[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 313-852]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 313]]

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                  RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES


                                  with


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[[Page 315]]


                          NOTES AND ANNOTATIONS


    RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WITH NOTES AND ANNOTATIONS




 
                               __________


                                 Rule I.


                         DUTIES OF THE SPEAKER.




Sec. 621. Journal; 
Speaker's approval.

  1. The Speaker shall take the Chair on every legislative day precisely 
at the hour to which the House shall have adjourned at the last sitting 
and immediately call the Members to order.  The Speaker, having examined the Journal of the 
proceedings of the last day's sitting and approved the same, shall 
announce to the House his approval of the Journal, and the Speaker's 
approval of the Journal shall be deemed to be agreed to subject to a 
vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval on the demand of any Member, 
which vote, if decided in the affirmative, shall not be subject to a 
motion to reconsider. It shall be in order to offer one motion that the 
Journal be read only if the Speaker's approval of the Journal is not 
agreed to, and such motion shall be determined without debate and shall 
not be subject to a motion to reconsider.



[[Page 316]]

  This clause was adopted in 1789, amended in 1811, 1824 (II, 1310), 
1971 (Jan. 22, 1971, pp. 14-15, 140-44, with the implementation of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, 84 Stat. 1140) and 1979 (H. Res. 
5, 96th Cong., Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7, 16). 

  The hour of meeting is fixed by standing order, and has traditionally 
been set at 12 m. (I, 104-109, 116, 117; IV, 4325); but beginning in the 
95th Congress, the House by standing order formalized the practice of 
varying its convening time to accommodate committee meetings on certain 
days of the week and to maximize time for floor action on other days. In 
the 100th through the 103d Congresses, the House adopted a resolution 
providing that it meet at noon on Mondays and Tuesdays, 2 p.m. on 
Wednesdays, and 11 a.m. on Thursdays and the balance of the week through 
May 14, after which the convening time for Wednesdays through Saturdays 
would advance to 10 a.m. for the remainder of the session (e.g., H. Res. 
7, 100th Cong., Jan. 6, 1987, p. 19). In the 104th Congress the House 
adopted a resolution providing that it meet at 2 p.m. on Mondays, 11 
a.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 10 a.m. on Thursdays and the 
balance of the week through May 13, after which the convening time would 
advance to noon on Mondays and 10 a.m. for the balance of the week for 
the remainder of the session (H. Res. 8, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). The 
House retains the right to vary from this schedule by use of the motion 
to adjourn to a day or time certain as provided in clause 4 of rule XVI. 
By special order, the House may provide for a session of the House on a 
Sunday, traditionally a ``dies non'' under the precedents of the House 
(Dec. 17, 1982, p. 31946; Dec. 18, 1987, p. 36352; Nov. 19, 1989, p. --
--; Aug. 20, 1994, p. ----). Beginning in the second session of the 103d 
Congress, the House has by unanimous consent agreed to convene at an 
earlier hour on Mondays and Tuesdays for morning-hour debate and then 
recess to the hour established for convening under this clause (Feb. 11, 
1994, p. ----; May 23, 1994, p. ----; June 8, 1994, p. ----; June 10, 
1994, p. ----; Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----; Feb. 16, 1995, p. ----; May 12, 
1995, p. ----; see Sec. 753b, infra).


[[Page 317]]
reading or amendment of the Journal, and there is an objection to the 
vote, a call of the House under clause 4 of rule XV is automatic (Feb. 
2, 1977, pp. 3342-43). Pursuant to clause 5(b)(1) of this rule as 
amended in the 98th Congress, the Speaker may postpone until a later 
time on the same legislative day a record vote on the Chair's approval 
of the Journal (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1983, p. 34). Where the House 
adjourns on consecutive days without having approved the Journal of the 
previous days' proceedings, the Speaker puts the question de novo in 
chronological order as the first order of business on the subsequent day 
(Nov. 3, 1987, p. 30592).
  Immediately after the Members are called to order prayer is offered by 
the Chaplain (IV, 3056), and the Speaker declines to entertain a point 
of no quorum before prayer is offered (VI, 663; clause 6(a)(1) of rule 
XV). Pursuant to clause 1 of rule I, as in effect in the 95th Congress, 
directing the Speaker to announce his approval of the Journal ``on the 
appearance of a quorum'' after having called the House to order, a point 
of order of no quorum could be made after the prayer and before the 
approval of the Journal when the House convened, notwithstanding the 
provisions of clause 6(e) of rule XV, allowing such points of order in 
the House only when the Speaker had put the pending motion or 
proposition to a vote (Oct. 3, 1977, p. 31987); prior practice had 
permitted a point of no quorum prior to the reading of the Journal (IV, 
2733; VI, 625) or during its reading (VI, 624). In the 96th Congress, 
the House eliminated the necessity for the appearance of a quorum before 
the Speaker's announcement of his approval of the Journal (H. Res. 5, 
Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7, 16). The current rule specifies that it is not in 
order to make or entertain a point of order that a quorum is not present 
unless the Speaker has put the pending motion or proposition to a vote 
(clause 6(e) of rule XV, as added in the 95th Congress). If a quorum 
fails to respond on a motion incident to the approval, 

  Prior to the 92d Congress, the reading of the Journal was mandatory, 
could not be dispensed with except by unanimous consent (VI, 625; Sept. 
19, 1962, p. 19941), or by motion to suspend the rules (IV, 2747-2750). 
It had to be read in full when demanded by any Member (IV, 2739-2741; 
VI, 627, 628; Feb. 22, 1950, p. 2152), but the demand came too late 
after the Journal was approved (VI, 626). Under the rule as in effect 
before the 95th Congress, pending the Speaker's announcement of his 
approval of the Journal and prior to approval by the House, any Member 
could offer a privileged, non-debatable motion that the Journal be read 
(Apr. 23, 1975, p. 11482).

  The Journal of the last day of a session is not read on the first day 
of the next session (IV, 2742). No business is transacted before the 
reading (IV, 2751-2756; VI, 629, 630, 637); not even consideration of a 
conference report (VI, 630). However, the motion to adjourn (IV, 2757; 
Speaker Wright, Nov. 2, 1987, p. 30387) and the swearing in of a Member 
(I, 172) could take precedence, and a question of privilege relating to 
a breach of privilege (such as an assault) occurring during the reading 
or approval of the Journal may interrupt its reading or approval (II, 
1630).

  Once begun, the reading may not be interrupted, even by business so 
highly privileged as a conference report (V, 6443; rule XXVII); but a 
parliamentary inquiry (VI, 624), or an arraignment of impeachment may 
interrupt (VI, 469); and in cases of disorder the reading has been 
suspended (II, 1630; IV, 2759).


<>   2. He shall preserve order and decorum, and, in case of 
disturbance or disorderly conduct in the gal

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leries, or in the lobby, may cause the same to be cleared.

  Under the prior rule, the Speaker's examination and approval of the 
Journal was preliminary to the reading and did not preclude subsequent 
amendment by the House itself (IV, 2734-2738). If the Speaker's approval 
of the Journal is rejected, a motion to amend takes precedence of a 
motion to approve (IV, 2760; VI, 633), and a Member offering an 
amendment is recognized under the hour rule (Mar. 19, 1990, p. 4488); 
but the motion is not admissible after the previous question is demanded 
on the motion to approve (IV, 2770; VI, 633; VIII, 2684; Sept. 13, 1965, 
p. 23600).

  This clause was adopted in 1789 and amended in 1794 (II, 1343).

  The Speaker may name a Member who is disorderly, but may not, of his 
own authority, censure or punish him (II, 1344, 1345; VI, 237). In cases 
of extreme disorder in Committee of the Whole the Speaker has taken the 
chair and restored order without a formal rising of the committee (II, 
1348, 1648-1653, 1657); and the Speaker, as an exercise of his authority 
under this clause, has on his own initiative declared the House in 
recess in an emergency (83d Cong., 2d Sess., p. 2324). The authority to 
have the galleries cleared has been exercised but rarely (II, 1352; 
Speaker Albert, Jan. 18, 1972, p. 9). On one occasion, acting on the 
basis of police reports and other evidence, the Speaker ordered the 
galleries cleared before the House convened (May 10, 1972, p. 16576) and 
then informed the House of his decision. In an early instance the 
Speaker ordered the arrest of a person in the gallery; but this exercise 
of power was questioned (II, 1605). While Members are permitted to use 
exhibits such as charts during debate (subject to the permission of the 
House under rule XXX), the Speaker may direct the removal of a chart 
from the well of the House which is not being utilized during debate 
(Apr. 1, 1982, p. 6304; Apr. 19, 1990, p. 7402). The Speaker's 
responsibility to preserve decorum requires that he disallow the use of 
exhibits in debate which would be demeaning to the House or which would 
be disruptive of the decorum thereof (Sept. 13, 1989, p. 20362; Oct. 16, 
1990, p. ----; Oct. 1, 1991, p. ----); thus he may inquire as to a 
Member's intentions, as to the use of exhibits, before conferring 
recognition to address the House (Mar. 21, 1984, p. 6187). In the 101st 
Congress both the Speaker and the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole 
reinforced the Chair's authority to control the use of exhibits in 
debate, distinguishing between the constitutional authority of the House 
to make its own rules and first amendment rights of free speech, and the 
use of all exhibits was prohibited during the consideration of a bill in 
the Committee of the Whole (Oct. 11, 1990, p. ----).


[[Page 319]]

  Questions having been raised concerning proper attire for Members in 
the Chamber (thermostat controls having been raised to comply with a 
Presidential directive conserving energy in the summer months), the 
Speaker announced he considered traditional attire for Members 
appropriate, including coats and ties for male Members and appropriate 
attire for female Members, but that he would recognize for a question of 
privileges of the House to relax such standards. The Speaker also 
requested a Member in violation of those standards to remove himself 
from the Chamber and appear in appropriate attire, and refused to 
recognize such Member until he did so (Speaker O'Neill, July 17, 1979, 
p. 11461). The House later agreed to a resolution (presented as a 
question of the privileges of the House) requiring Members to wear 
proper attire as determined by the Speaker (July 17, 1979, pp. 186-87). 


  Recognition is within the discretion of the Chair, and in order to 
uphold order and decorum in the House as required under clause 2 of rule 
I, the Speaker may deny a Member recognition to address the House under 
the ``one-minute rule'' (Aug. 27, 1980, p. 23456), and may deny further 
recognition to a Member proceeding out of order beyond the one-minute 
for which recognized (Mar. 16, 1988, p. 4081). Even prior to adoption of 
the rules, the Speaker may maintain decorum by directing a Member who 
has not been recognized in debate beyond an allotted time to be removed 
from the well and by directing the Sergeant-at-Arms to present the mace 
as the traditional symbol of order (Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). A Member's 
comportment may constitute a breach of decorum even though the content 
of that Member's speech is not, itself, unparliamentary (July 29, 1994, 
p. ----).




Sec. 623. Speaker's control of the Hall, corridors, and 
rooms.

  3.  He shall have general control, except as provided by rule or 
law, of the Hall of the House, and of the corridors and passages and the 
disposal of the unappropriated rooms in that part of the Capitol 
assigned to the use of the House, until further order.


  This clause was adopted in 1811 and amended in 1824, 1885 (II, 1354), 
and April 5, 1911 (VI, 261).


  Control of the appropriated rooms in the House portion of the Capitol 
is exercised by the House itself (V, 7273-7279), but repairs and 
alterations have been authorized by statute (V, 7280-7281; 59 Stat. 
472). On January 15, 1979, the Speaker announced his directive 
concerning free access by Members in the corridors approaching the 
chamber (p. 19). The Speaker has declined to recognize for a unanimous 
consent request to change the decor in the Chamber, stating that he 
would take the ``suggestion'' under advisement in exercising his 
authority under this clause (Mar. 2, 1989, p. 3220).


[[Page 320]]
to sign enrolled bills whether or not the House is in session.



Sec. 624. Speaker's signature to acts, warrants, subpoenas, 
etc.; and decision of questions of order subject to appeal.

  4.  He shall 
sign all acts, addresses, joint resolutions, writs, warrants, and 
subpoenas of, or issued by order of, the House, and decide all questions 
of order, subject to an appeal by any Member, on which appeal no Member 
shall speak more than once, unless by permission of the House. The 
Speaker is authorized 


  The portion of this rule relating to decisions on points of order was 
adopted in 1789 and amended in 1811; and the portion relating to the 
signing of acts, etc., was adopted in 1794 (II, 1313). The last sentence 
of this clause, granting the Speaker standing authority to sign enrolled 
bills, even if the House is not in session, was added in the 97th 
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 98-113).



Sec. 625. Signing of enrolled bills.

  Enrolled  bills are 
signed first by the Speaker (IV, 3429). He has declined to sign in the 
absence of a quorum (IV, 3458), or pending a motion to reconsider (V, 
5705); and the report of a committee as to the accuracy of the 
enrollment is first submitted, unless, as in rare instances only, the 
House by consent waives the requirement (IV, 3452). In cases of error 
the House has permitted the Speaker's signature to be vacated (IV, 3453, 
3455-3457; VII, 1077-1080). Under the modern practice, the Committee of 
the Whole may rise informally without motion to enable the Speaker to 
assume the Chair and to sign an enrolled bill and lay it before the 
House (Jan. 28, 1980, p. 888; Apr. 30, 1980, p. 9505).




Sec. 626. Signing of warrants, subpoenas, 
etc.

  Warrants,  subpoenas, etc., during recesses of Congress are signed only by 
authority specially given (III, 1753, 1763, 1806). The issuing of 
warrants must be specially authorized by the House (I, 287) or pursuant 
to a standing rule (clause 4 of rule XV; Sec. 774a, infra). Instance 
wherein the House authorized the Speaker to warrant for the arrest of 
absentees (VI, 638). The Speaker also signs the articles, replications, 
etc., in impeachments (III, 2370, 2455); and certifies cases of 
contumacious witnesses for action by the courts (III, 1691, 1769; VI, 
385; 2 U.S.C. 194). A subpoena validly issued by a committee authorized 
by the House under clause 2(m) of rule XI to issue subpoenas need only 
be signed by the chairman of that committee, whereas when the House 
issues an order or warrant, the Speaker must issue the summons under his 
hand and seal, and it must be attested by the Clerk (III, 1668; see H. 
Rept. 96-1078, p. 22).



[[Page 321]]
the question of order may be raised without waiting for the reading to 
be completed (V, 6886-7; VIII, 2912, 3378, 3437), though the Chair may 
decline to rule until the entire proposition has been read (Dec. 14, 
1973, pp. 41716-18). Debate being for his information is within his 
discretion (V, 6919, 6920; VIII, 3446-3448), and Members must address 
the Chair and cannot engage in ``colloquies'' on the point of order 
(Sept. 18, 1986, p. 24083). He is constrained to give precedent its 
proper influence (II, 1317; VI, 248). While the Chair will normally not 
disregard a decision of the Chair previously made on the same facts (IV, 
4045), such precedents may be examined and reversed where shown to be 
erroneous (IV, 4637; VI, 639; VII, 849; VIII, 2794, 3435; Sept. 12, 
1986, p. 23178). Preserving the authority and binding force of 
parliamentary law is as much the duty of each Member of the House as it 
is the duty of the Chair (VII, 1479). The Speaker's decisions are 
recorded in the Journal (IV, 2840, 2841), but responses to parliamentary 
inquiries are not so recorded (IV, 2842). Questions arising during a 
division are decided peremptorily (V, 5926), and when they arise out of 
any other question must be decided before that question (V, 6864). 
Recognition for parliamentary inquiry lies in the discretion of the 
Chair (VI, 541; Apr. 7, 1992, p. ----). The Speaker may recognize and 
respond to a parliamentary inquiry although the previous question may 
have been demanded (Speaker pro tempore Snell, Mar. 27, 1926, p. 6469). 
While the Chair may in his discretion recognize Members for 
parliamentary inquiries when no other Member is occupying the floor for 
debate, when another Member has the floor he must yield for a 
parliamentary inquiry (Oct. 1, 1986, p. 27465; July 13, 1989, p. 14633).


Sec. 627. Practice governing the Speaker in deciding 
points of order.

  The  Speaker may require that a question of order be 
presented in writing (V, 6865). He is not required to decide a question 
not directly presented by the proceedings (II, 1314), and it is not his 
duty to decide a hypothetical question (VI, 249, 253; Nov. 20, 1989, p. 
----), as the germaneness of an amendment not yet offered (Dec. 12, 
1985, p. 36167) or previously offered and entertained without a point of 
order (June 6, 1990, p. 13194), or concerning the propriety under 
applicable Budget Act allocations of an amendment not yet offered, 
particularly where the Chair's response may have depended upon the 
disposition of a prior amendment on which proceedings had been postponed 
(June 27, 1994, p. ----). When enough of a proposition has been read to 
show that it is out of order, 


  A proper parliamentary inquiry relates to an interpretation of a House 
rule, not of a statute; the Chair has declined to anticipate whether 
bill language would trigger certain executive actions (Sept. 20, 1989, 
p. 20969). In rare instances the Speaker has declined to rule until he 
has taken time for examination of the question (III, 2725; VI, 432; VII, 
2106; VIII, 2174, 2396, 3475). Prior to the 104th Congress, precedents 
and applicable guidelines allowed the Chair to refine a ruling on a 
point of order in the Record in order to clarify the ruling without 
changing its substance, including one sustained by the House on appeal 
(Feb. 19, 1992, p. ----; see H. Res. 230, 99th Cong., July 31, 1985, p. 
21783, and H. Rept. 99-228 (in accordance with existing accepted 
practices, Speaker may make such technical or parliamentary corrections 
or insertions in transcript as may be necessary to conform to rule, 
custom, or precedent); see also H. Res. 330, 101st Cong., Feb. 7, 1990, 
p. 1515, and report of House Administration Task Force on Record 
inserted by Speaker Foley, Oct. 27, 1990, p. ----). However, the Speaker 
ruled that the requirement of clause 9 of rule XIV, which was adopted in 
the 104th Congress, that the Record be a substantially verbatim account 
of remarks made during House proceedings, extended to statements and 
rulings of the Chair (Jan. 20, 1995, p. ----).


[[Page 322]]
1992, p. ----). The Chair responds to parliamentary inquiries relating 
in a practical sense to the pending proceedings but does not respond to 
requests to place them in historical context (June 25, 1992, p. ----). 
The Chair will not respond to a parliamentary inquiry involving the 
propriety of words spoken in debate pending a demand under clause 4 of 
rule XIV that those words be ``taken down'' as unparliamentary (June 8, 
1995, p. ----). In interpreting the language of a special order adopted 
by the House, the Chair will not look behind the language of the 
resolution itself where no ambiguity exists therein (June 18, 1986, p. 
14267). He rarely submits a question directly to the House for its 
decision (IV, 3173, 3282, 4930; V, 5014, 5323, 6701; VI, 49; Speaker 
Longworth, Apr. 8, 1926, p. 7148), and rarely raises and submits a 
question on his own initiative (II, 1277, 1315, 1316; VIII, 3405). Even 
as to questions of privilege he usually, in later practice, makes a 
preliminary decision instead of submitting the question directly to the 
House (III, 2648, 2649, 2650, 2654, 2678; Speaker Wright, Mar. 11, 1987, 
p. 5404). He does not decide on the legislative or legal effect of 
propositions (II, 1274, 1323, 1324; VI, 254; VII, 2112; VIII, 2280, 
2841; Mar. 16, 1983, p. 5669), on the consistency of proposed action 
with other acts of the House (II, 1327-1336; VII, 2112, 2136; VIII, 
3237, 3458), whether Members have abused leave to print (V, 6998-7000; 
VIII, 3475), on the constitutional powers of the House (II, 1255, 1318-
1320, 1490; IV, 3507; VI, 250, 251; VIII, 2225, 3031, 3071, 3427; July 
21, 1947, pp. 9522, 9551; May 13, 1948, p. 5817), on the propriety or 
expediency of a proposed course of action (II, 1275, 1325, 1326, 1337; 
IV, 3091-3093, 3127); and he does not consider contingencies which may 
arise in the future (VII, 1409), such as ruling on the germaneness of an 
amendment not yet offered (May 5, 1988, p. 9936; May 18, 1988, p. 
11404); or take cognizance of complaints relating to pairs (VIII, 3087). 
He passes on the validity of conference reports (V, 6409, 6410, 6414-
6416; VIII, 3256, 3264), but not on the sufficiency of the accompanying 
statements as distinguished from the form (V, 6511-6513), or on the 
question of whether a conference report violates instructions of the 
House (V, 6395; VIII, 3246). As to reports of committees, he does not 
decide as to their sufficiency (II, 1339, IV, 4653), or whether the 
committee has followed instructions (II, 1338; IV, 4404, 4689); or on 
matters arising in Committee of the Whole (V, 6927, 6928, 6932-6937; 
Dec. 12, 1985, p. 36173); but he has decided as to the validity of the 
authorization of a report (IV, 4592, 4593) and has indicated that a 
point of order could be raised at a proper time where the content of a 
filed report varies from that approved by the committee (May 16, 1989, 
p. 9356). Questions concerning informal guidelines of the Committee on 
Rules for advance submission of amendments for possible inclusion under 
a ``modified closed'' rule may not be raised under the guise of 
parliamentary inquiries, since the Chair would not be called upon to 
interpret any rule of the House (May 5, 1988, p. 9938).

[[Page 323]]

  The Chair may take a parliamentary inquiry under advisement, 
especially where not related to the pending proceedings (VIII, 2174; 
Apr. 7, 



Sec. 628. Practice, governing appeals.

  The  right of appeal 
insures the House against the arbitrary control of the Speaker and can 
not be taken away from the House (V, 6002); but appeals may not be 
entertained from responses to parliamentary inquiries (V, 6955; VIII, 
3457); when dilatory (V, 5715-5722; VIII, 2822); from decisions on 
recognition (II, 1425-1428; VI, 292; VIII, 2429, 2646, 2762; July 23, 
1993, p. ----; Apr. 4, 1995, p. ----); from decisions on dilatoriness of 
motions (V, 5731); while another is pending (V, 6939-6941); on a 
question on which an appeal has just been decided (IV, 3036; V, 6877); 
between the motion to adjourn and vote thereon (V, 5361); during a call 
of the yeas and nays (V, 6051); from the count by the Chair of the 
number rising to demand tellers (VIII, 3105) or a recorded vote (June 
24, 1976, p. 20390) or the yeas and nays (Sept. 12, 1978, p. 28950) or 
rising to object to a request under clause 2(i) of rule XI that a 
committee have permission to sit under the five-minute rule (Sept. 12, 
1978, p. 28984); from the Chair's count of a quorum (July 24, 1974, p. 
25012); from the Chair's call of a voice vote (July 13, 1994, p. ----; 
Aug. 10, 1994, p. ----); from decision refusing recapitulation of a vote 
(VIII, 3128); and from the Speaker's refusal under clause 6(e) of rule 
XV to entertain a point of order of no quorum when a pending question 
has not been put to a vote (Sept. 16, 1977, p. 29594). The Speaker may 
vote to sustain his own decision (IV, 4569; V, 5686, 6956, 6957).



  The appeal may be debated (VII, 1608; VIII, 2347, 2375, 3453-3455); 
unless the motion is made to lay on the table (V, 5301; Mar. 16, 1988, 
p. 4086), or the previous question is ordered (V, 5448, 5449). An appeal 
from a decision relating to the priority of business (V, 6952), or 
irrelevancy of debate (V, 5056-5063) is not debatable. In practice a 
Member favorable to the ruling usually moves to lay the appeal on the 
table, thus shutting off debate (e.g., Oct. 8, 1968, p. 30215; Apr. 6, 
1995, p. ----). A motion to postpone an appeal has been held in order 
(VIII, 2613). Debate in the House is under the hour rule (V, 4978), but 
may be closed at any time by the adoption of a motion for the previous 
question (V, 6947); or to lay on the table (VIII, 3453). Debate on an 
appeal in the Committee of the Whole is under the five-minute rule (VII, 
1608; VIII, 2347, 2556a, 3454, 3455), and may be closed by motion to 
close debate or to rise and report (V, 6947, 6950; VIII, 3453).


[[Page 324]]
tion shall first rise from their <> seats, and then those in the 
negative. If any Member requests a recorded vote and that request is 
supported by at least one-fifth of a quorum, such vote shall be taken by 
electronic device, unless the Speaker in his discretion orders clerks to 
tell the names of those voting on each side of the question, and such 
names shall be recorded by electronic device or by clerks, as the case 
may be, and shall be entered in the Journal, together with the names of 
those not voting. Members shall have not less than fifteen minutes to be 
counted from the ordering of the recorded vote or the ordering of clerks 
to tell the vote.



Sec. 629. Putting of the question by the Speaker.

  5.  (a) He 
shall rise to put a question, but may state it sitting; and shall put 
questions in this form, to wit: ``As many as are in favor (as the 
question may be), say `Aye'.''; and after the affirmative voice is 
expressed, ``As many as are opposed, say `No'.''; if he doubts, or a 
division is called for, the House shall divide; those in the affirmative 
of the ques


  This paragraph was first adopted in 1789 and its present form reflects 
the revisions and amendments of 1860, 1880 (II, 1311), 1972 (H. Res. 
1123, Oct. 13, 1972, pp. 36005-08), and 1993 (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, 
p. ----). From January 22, 1971 (when H. Res. 5 of the 92d Congress was 
adopted incorporating provisions in the Legislative Reorganization Act 
of 1970, 84 Stat. 1140), until October 13, 1972, this rule provided a 
two-step procedure for ordering ``tellers with clerks'' prior to 
installation of the electronic voting system, and for the first time 
permitted Members to be recorded on votes in Committee of the Whole. The 
last two sentences of this paragraph permitting a single-step ``recorded 
vote'' and voting by means of electronic device installed in the Chamber 
in 1972, were contained in House Resolution on October 13, 1972, and 
were made effective by adoption of the rules of the 93d Congress (H. 
Res. 6, Jan. 3, 1973, pp. 26-27). The general provision for demanding a 
vote by tellers was repealed in the 103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 
1993, p. ----).

  The motion as stated by the Chair in putting the question and not as 
stated by the Member in offering the motion, is the proposition voted on 
(VI, 247). Under this paragraph the Speaker must put the pending 
question to a voice vote prior to entertaining a demand for a recorded 
vote or the yeas and nays (Speaker Foley, Mar. 9, 1992, p. ----). It is 
not in order for a Member having the floor in debate to conduct a 
``straw vote'' or otherwise ask for a show of support for a proposition. 
See Procedure, ch. 30, sec. 3.1.


[[Page 325]]
(V, 6002) and the integrity of the Chair in counting a vote should not 
be questioned in the House (VIII, 3115; July 11, 1985, p. 18550), and 
the Chair's count of Members demanding a recorded vote is not appealable 
(June 24, 1976, pp. 20390-91). A vote by division takes no cognizance of 
Members present but not voting, and consequently the number of votes 
counted by division has no tendency to establish a lack of a quorum 
(June 29, 1988, p. 16504).
  One of the suppositions on which parliamentary law is founded is that 
the Speaker will not betray his duty to make an honest count on a 
division 

  In a full House (total membership of 435), a recorded vote is ordered 
by one-fifth of a quorum (44), but in Committee of the Whole a recorded 
vote is ordered by 25 (clause 2(b) of rule XXIII, as added in 96th Cong. 
by H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7, 16), rather than 20 in both cases as 
in prior practice (V, 5986; Dec. 20, 1974, p. 41793). The former right 
to demand tellers was not precluded by the fact that the yeas and nays 
had been refused (V. 5998; VIII, 3103), that a point of no quorum has 
been made against a division vote on the question on which tellers were 
requested (VIII, 3104, by a point of no quorum and a call of the House 
following a division vote on the question on which tellers were demanded 
(Sept. 25, 1969, pp. 27041-42), or by the intervention of a quorum call 
following the refusal of the Committee of the Whole to order a recorded 
vote (Feb. 27, 1974, p. 4447). But only one request for a recorded vote 
on a pending question is in order (Jan. 21, 1976, p. 508), and a demand 
for a recorded vote cannot interrupt a vote by division which is in 
progress (June 10, 1975, p. 18048). While a request for a recorded vote 
once denied may not be renewed, the request remains pending where the 
Chair interrupts the count of Members standing in favor of the request 
in order to count for a quorum pursuant to a point of order that a 
quorum is not present (Aug. 5, 1982, pp. 19658, 19659). Recognition by 
the Chair for a parliamentary inquiry immediately following the Chair's 
announcement of a voice vote on an amendment is not such intervening 
business as to prevent a demand for a recorded vote thereon where the 
Chair has not announced the final disposition of the amendment (May 23, 
1984, p. 13928; July 26, 1984, p. 21249). Where a division vote is 
demanded on a proposition in the House and the vote thereon is then 
postponed pursuant to paragraph (b) of this clause a division may again 
be demanded when the question is put de novo on the proposition as 
unfinished business (since a demand for a division may be made by any 
Member), whereas a demand for the yeas and nays if refused by the House 
may not be renewed (Mar. 18, 1980, pp. 5739-40). Ordinarily, however, 
only one demand for a vote by division on a pending question is in order 
(July 26, 1984, p. 21259; June 29, 1994, p. ----).


[[Page 326]]
pointed from the other side (V, 5988) or the position has been left 
vacant (V, 5989). A Delegate may be appointed teller (II, 1302). Where 
there is a doubt as to the count by tellers the Chair may order the vote 
taken again (V, 5991; July 19, 1946, p. 9466), but this must be done 
before he has announced the result (V, 5993-5995; VIII, 3098). The Chair 
may be counted without passing between the tellers (V, 5996, 5997; VIII, 
3100, 3101).



Sec. 630b. Ordering of tellers and taking of the 
vote.

  In  Committee of the Whole, a request for a recorded vote on an 
amendment once denied may not be renewed even where the absence of a 
quorum is disclosed immediately following the refusal to order a 
recorded vote (June 6, 1979, p. 13648; Oct. 25, 1983, p. 29227). It is 
the duty of the Member to serve as teller when appointed by the Chair 
(V, 5987); but when Members of one side have declined, the second teller 
has been ap




Sec. 631. Postponing rollcall votes on passage.

  (b)(1)  On 
any legislative day whenever a recorded vote is ordered or the yeas and 
nays are ordered, or a vote is objected to under clause 4 of rule XV on 
any of the following questions, the Speaker may, in his discretion, 
postpone further proceedings on each such question to a designated time 
or place in the legislative schedule on that legislative day in the case 
of the question of agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal, or 
within two legislative days, in the case of the other questions listed 
herein:


      (A) the question of adopting a resolution;

      (B) the question of passing a bill;

      (C) the question of agreeing to a motion to instruct conferees as 
provided in clause 1(c) of rule XXVIII: Provided, however, That 
proceedings shall not resume on said question if the conferees have 
filed a report in the House;

      (D) the question of agreeing to a conference report;

      (E) the question of ordering the previous question on a question 
described in subdivision (A), (B), (C), or (D); and

      (F) the question of agreeing to a motion to suspend the rules.


[[Page 327]]
under subparagraph (1), the Speaker shall put each question on which 
further proceedings were postponed, in the order in which that question 
was considered.
  (2) At the time designated by the Speaker for further consideration of 
proceedings postponed 

  (3) At any time after the vote has been taken on the first question on 
which the Speaker has postponed further proceedings under this 
paragraph, the Speaker may, in his discretion, reduce to not less than 
five minutes the period of time within which a rollcall vote by 
electronic device on the question may be taken without any intervening 
business on any or all of the additional questions on which the Speaker 
has postponed further proceedings under this paragraph.


  (4) If the House adjourns before all of the questions on which further 
proceedings were postponed under this paragraph have been put and 
determined, then, on the next following legislative day the unfinished 
business shall be the disposition of all such questions, previously 
undisposed of, in the order in which the questions were considered.


[[Page 328]]
5, Jan. 3, 1989, p. 72), along with the provision that a question so 
postponed not be put if the conferees sooner file their report. In the 
104th Congress the list of questions susceptible of postponement was 
reordered and expanded to include a vote on ordering the previous 
question on another question that is, itself, susceptible of 
postponement (sec. 223(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
  Paragraph (b) was added in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 
1979, p. 7), and subparagraph (b)(1) was amended in the 97th Congress 
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 98-113) to place all authority for the 
postponing of further proceedings on certain questions into rule I. This 
consolidation was accomplished with the addition of the authority to 
postpone further proceedings on reports from the Committee on Rules 
(formerly clause 4(e) of rule XI) and the authority to postpone further 
proceedings on motions to suspend the rules and pass bills or 
resolutions (formerly clause 3(b) of rule XXVII). The authority for the 
Speaker to postpone further proceedings on agreeing to his approval of 
the Journal until later that legislative day was added to subparagraph 
(b)(1) in the 98th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1983, p. 34). The 
authority for the Speaker to postpone further proceedings on motions to 
instruct conferees after 20 calendar days in conference was added to 
subparagraph (b)(1) in the 101st Congress (H. Res. 

  The Speaker first exercised his authority to postpone a rollcall vote 
on the approval of the Journal on November 10, 1983 (p. 32097). That 
authority includes the power to postpone a division vote on the approval 
of the Journal that is objected to under clause 4 of rule XV (Sept. 21, 
1993, p. ----). But on questions not enumerated in this paragraph, such 
as the initial motion to instruct conferees, unanimous consent is 
required to permit the Speaker to postpone such record votes (Oct. 6, 
1986, p. 28704).

  Pursuant to clause 6(e) of rule XV, prohibiting a point of order of no 
quorum unless the Speaker has put the pending proposition to a vote, the 
Speaker announces, after postponing a vote on a motion to suspend the 
rules where objection has been made to the vote on the grounds that 
quorum is not present, that the point of order is considered as 
withdrawn, since the Chair is no longer putting the question (May 16, 
1977, p. 14785). At the conclusion of debate on all motions to suspend 
the rules on a legislative day, the Speaker announces that he will put 
the question on each motion on which further proceedings have been 
postponed--either de novo if objection to the vote has been made under 
clause 4 of rule XV or for a ``yea and nay'' or recorded vote if 
previously ordered by the House in the order in which the motions had 
been entered (June 4, 1974, pp. 17521-47).

  Under the authority to postpone further proceedings on a specified 
question to a designated time within two legislative days, the Speaker 
may simultaneously designate separate times for the resumption of 
proceedings on separate postponed questions (Mar. 3, 1992, p. ----). 
Once the Speaker has postponed rollcall votes to a designated place in 
the legislative schedule, he may subsequently redesignate the time when 
the votes will be taken within the appropriate period (June 6, 1984, p. 
15080; Oct. 3, 1988, pp. 27782, 27878).


[[Page 329]]
would not give adequate notice of the initial five-minute vote (Oct. 8, 
1985, p. 26666). But where a series of votes has been postponed to a 
subsequent day pursuant to this clause, to occur following a fifteen-
minute vote on another measure not a part of that series, the vote on 
the first postponed measure may be reduced to five minutes only by 
unanimous consent (May 24, 1983, p. 13595). By unanimous consent waiving 
the five-minute minimum set by paragraph (b)(3) of this clause, the 
House has authorized the Speaker to put remaining postponed questions to 
two-minute electronic votes (Oct. 4, 1988, pp. 28126, 28148). The 
Speaker may ``cluster'' postponed votes on a motion to suspend the rules 
and on adoption of a resolution in the order in which those questions 
were considered on the preceding day (July 19, 1983, p. 19774). The 
requirement that the Speaker put each question on motions to suspend the 
rules in the order in which postponed, does not prevent the Speaker from 
entertaining a unanimous consent request for the consideration of a 
similar Senate measure following passage of a House bill and prior to 
the next postponed vote (Feb. 15, 1983, p. 2175). Since a resolution 
raising a question of the privileges of the House takes precedence over 
a motion to suspend the rules, it may be offered and voted on between 
motions to suspend the rules on which the Speaker has postponed record 
votes until after debate on all suspensions (May 17, 1983, p. 12486). 
Under this clause the Speaker is not required to announce his intention 
to postpone at the beginning of consideration of a motion to suspend the 
rules (although that is customarily the courtesy) but may postpone 
further proceedings after a record vote is ordered or an objection is 
raised under clause 4 of rule XV (Feb. 23, 1993, p. ----).

  Following the first postponed vote on motions to suspend the rules, 
the Speaker may in his discretion reduce to not less than 5 minutes the 
time for taking votes on any or all of the subsequent motions on which 
votes have been postponed (June 4, 1974, p. 17547). Having clustered 
record votes on motions to suspend the rules and then having clustered 
record votes on passage of other measures considered immediately after 
debate on the suspension motions, the Speaker may, pursuant to this 
clause, conduct all the postponed votes in one sequence and reduce to 
five minutes the time for all electronic votes after the first 
suspension vote (May 17, 1983, p. 12508; Oct. 2, 1989, p. 22724). But 
the Chair may decline, in his discretion, to recognize for a unanimous 
consent request to reduce to five minutes the first vote in the series, 
since the bell and light system 




Sec. 632. The Speaker's vote. Tie vote.

  6.  He shall not be 
required to vote in ordinary legislative proceedings, except where his 
vote would be decisive, or where the House is engaged in voting by 
ballot; and in cases of a tie vote the question shall be lost.


  This clause was adopted in 1789, with amendment in 1850 (V, 5964), and 
1911.


[[Page 330]]
of the roll shows a condition wherein his vote would be decisive (V, 
5969, 6061-6063; VIII, 3075); and he also exercises the right to 
withdraw his vote in case a correction shows it to have been unnecessary 
(V, 5971). The Speakers have the same right as other Members to vote (V, 
5966, 5967) but rarely exercise it (V, 5964, footnote), and the Chair 
may not vote twice (V, 5964). The Chair may be counted on a vote by 
tellers (V, 5996, 5997; VIII, 3100, 3101).

  The Speaker's name is not on the roll from which the yeas and nays are 
called (V, 5970) and is not called unless on his request (V, 5965). It 
is then called at the end of the roll (V, 5965; VIII, 3075), the Clerk 
calling him by name. On an electronic vote, the Chair directs the Clerk 
to record him and verifies that instruction by submitting a vote card 
(Oct. 17, 1990, p. ----). The Chair may vote to make a tie and so decide 
a question in the negative, as he may vote to break a tie and so decide 
a question in the affirmative (VIII, 3100; Aug. 14, 1957, p. 14783). The 
duty of giving a decisive vote may be exercised after the intervention 
of other business, or after the announcement of the result or on another 
day, if a correction 



Sec. 633. Speaker pro tempore.

  7.  (a) He shall have the 
right to name any Member to perform the duties of the Chair, but such 
substitution shall not extend beyond three legislative days, except that 
with the permission of the House he may name a Member to act as Speaker 
pro tempore only to sign enrolled bills and joint resolutions for a 
period of time specified in the designation, notwithstanding any other 
provision of this clause: Provided, however, That in case of his 
illness, he may make such appointment for a period not exceeding ten 
days, with the approval of the House at the time the same is made; and 
in his absence and omission to make such appointment, the House shall 
proceed to elect a Speaker pro tempore to act during his absence.-





Sec. 633a. Fourterm limit.

  (b)  No person may serve as 
Speaker for more than four consecutive Congresses, beginning with the 
One Hundred Fourth Congress (disregarding for this purpose any service 
for less than a full session in any Congress).



[[Page 331]]

  This clause was adopted in 1811, and amended in 1876 (II, 1377) and in 
1920 (VI, 263). Paragraph (b) was added in the 104th Congress (sec. 
103(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).



Sec. 634a. Election, oath, and designation of Speaker pro 
tempore.

  The  right of the House to elect a Speaker pro tempore in the 
absence of the Speaker was exercised before the rule was adopted (II, 
1405), although the House sometimes preferred to adjourn (I, 179). An 
elected Speaker pro tempore in the earlier practice was not sworn (I, 
229; II, 1386); but the Senate and sometimes the President were notified 
of his election (II, 1386-1389, 1405-1412; VI, 275). On August 31, 1961, 
p. 17765, the House adopted House Resolution 445, electing Hon. John W. 
McCormack as Speaker pro tempore in the absence and terminal illness of 
Speaker Rayburn. The resolution provided that the Clerk notify the 
President and the Senate. The Chairman of the Democratic Caucus then 
administered the oath. Elected Speakers pro tempore have signed enrolled 
bills, appointed committees, etc., functions not exercised by a Speaker 
pro tempore by designation (II, 1399, 1400, 1404; VI, 274, 277, Sept. 
21, 1961, p. 20572; June 21, 1984, p. 17708), but the clause was amended 
in the 99th Congress (H. Res. 7, Jan. 3, 1985, p. 393) to authorize the 
Speaker, with House approval, to designate a Speaker pro tempore to sign 
enrolled bills.



  A call of the House may take place with a Speaker pro tempore in the 
chair (IV, 2989), and the Speaker pro tempore may issue his warrant for 
the arrest of absent members under a call of the House (VI, 688). When 
the Speaker is not present at the opening of a session, including 
morning-hour debates, he designates a Speaker pro tempore in writing 
(II, 1378, 1401); but he does not always name in open House the Member 
whom he calls to the chair temporarily during the day's sitting (II, 
1379, 1400). The presence of the Speaker either at the opening of 
morning-hour debates or at the opening of the regular session on a day 
satisfies the requirement that the Speaker be present to convene the 
House at least every fourth day. A Speaker pro tempore sometimes 
designates another Speaker pro tempore (II, 1384; VI, 275). Members of 
the minority have been called to the chair on occasions of ceremony (II, 
1383; VI, 270; Jan. 31, 1951, p. 779), but in rare instances on other 
occasions (II, 1382, 1390; III, 2596; VI, 264).


[[Page 332]]
However, expenses may not be paid from the contingent fund for travel 
of a Member after the date of the general election of Members in which 
the Member has not been 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.



Sec. 634b. Travel authority.

  8.  He shall have the authority 
to designate any Member, officer or employee of the House of 
Representatives to travel on the business of the House of 
Representatives, as determined by him, within or without the United 
States, whether the House is meeting, has recessed or has adjourned, and 
all expenses for such travel may be paid for from the contingent fund of 
the House on vouchers solely approved and signed by the Speaker. 



  This clause was adopted in the 94th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 
1975, p. 20), and the last sentence was added in the 95th Congress (H. 
Res. 287, Mar. 2, 1977, p. 5941). See also Sec. 719b, infra, for 
discussion of the Speaker's authority under section 502(b) of the Mutual 
Security Act of 1954 (22 U.S.C. 1754) to authorize use of counterpart 
funds for Members and employees for foreign travel, except where 
authorized by the chairman of the committee for members and employees 
thereof.



Sec. 634c. Broadcasting of House proceedings.

  9.  (a) He 
shall devise and implement a system subject to his direction and control 
for closed circuit viewing of floor proceedings of the House of 
Representatives in the offices of all Members and committees and in such 
other places in the Capitol and the House Office Buildings as he deems 
appropriate. Such system may include other telecommunications functions 
as he deems appropriate. Any such telecommunications function shall be 
subject to rules and regulations issued by the Speaker.



[[Page 333]]
news media, the storage of audio and video recordings of the 
proceedings, and the closed captioning of the proceedings for hearing-
impaired individuals.
  (b)(1) He shall devise and implement a system subject to his direction 
and control for complete and unedited audio and visual broadcasting and 
recording of the proceedings of the House of Representatives. He shall 
provide for the distribution of such broadcasts and recordings thereof 
to 

  (2) All television and radio broadcasting stations, networks, 
services, and systems (including cable systems) which are accredited to 
the House Radio and Television Correspondents' Galleries, and all radio 
and television correspondents who are accredited to the Radio and 
Television Correspondents' Galleries shall be provided access to the 
live coverage of the House of Representatives.

  (3) No coverage made available under this clause nor any recording 
thereof shall be used for any political purpose.

  (4) Coverage made available under this clause shall not be broadcast 
with commercial sponsorship except as part of bona fide news programs 
and public affairs documentary programs. No part of such coverage or any 
recording thereof shall be used in any commercial advertisment.


  (c) He may delegate any of his responsibilities under this clause to 
such legislative entity as he deems appropriate.

  This clause was adopted in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 
1979, p. 7). The requirement that the televised broadcasts of the 
proceedings of the House be closed captioned for hearing-impaired 
individuals was added to the second sentence of paragraph (b)(1) in the 
101st Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1989, p. 72). The authority of the 
Speaker to make rules governing telecommunications functions within the 
House was added to paragraph (a) in the 102d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 
3, 1991, p. ----).


[[Page 334]]
over the Hall of the House for the audiovisual broadcast of House 
proceedings within the Capitol and House Office Buildings (H. Res. 404, 
Mar. 15, 1977, p. 7608). The resolution directed the Committee on Rules 
to report to the House at the earliest practicable date its findings and 
recommendations, including whether such coverage should be made 
available to the public. The Committee reported and the House adopted 
another resolution which: (1) authorized the Speaker to establish a 
closed-circuit system for in-House broadcasting of House proceedings; 
(2) directed the Committee on Rules to study methods for providing 
complete audio and visual broadcasting of House proceedings and to 
report to the House thereon; and (3) directed the Speaker after receipt 
of the committee's report to establish a system subject to his direction 
and control for audio and visual broadcast and recording of House 
proceedings and to provide for distribution and access to the news media 
(H. Res. 866, Oct. 27, 1977, pp. 35425-37). The Speaker, after receipt 
of that report (H. Rept. 95-881, Feb. 15, 1978), directed implementation 
of full audio coverage, with distribution to the media, on June 8, 1978 
(p. 16746). Public Law 95-391 (the Legislative Branch Appropriation Bill 
for fiscal year 1979) contained the following proviso in section 306 
relating to the broadcasting of House proceedings: ``No funds in this 
bill may be used to implement a system for televising and broadcasting 
the proceedings of the House pursuant to House Resolution 866, Ninety-
Fifth Congress, under which the TV cameras in the Chamber purchased by 
the House are controlled and operated by persons not in the employ of 
the House.''
  In the 95th Congress the House considered as a question of the 
privileges of the House and adopted a resolution directing the Committee 
on Rules to investigate the impact on the safety, dignity, and integrity 
of House proceedings, of a test authorized by the Speaker under his 
general control 



[[Page 335]]

  Pursuant to his authority under this clause, the Speaker directed the 
Clerk in the 98th Congress to immediately implement periodic wide-angle 
television coverage of all ``special-order'' speeches at the end of 
legislative business (with captions at the bottom of the screen 
indicating that legislative business has been completed) (May 10, 1984, 
p. 11894) but not during ``interim'' special orders (Dec. 19, 1985, p. 
38106). However, in the 103d and 104th Congresses, the Speaker 
prohibited wide-angle coverage but continued the caption at the bottom 
of the screen not only during special order speeches but also during 
morning-hour debates (Speaker Foley, Feb. 11, 1994, p. ----; Speaker 
Gingrich, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). In the 99th Congress, the House 
adopted a resolution, raised as a question of the privileges of the 
House, authorizing and directing the Speaker to provide for the audio 
and visual broadcast coverage of the chamber while Members are voting 
(H. Res. 150, Apr. 30, 1985, p. 9821). Although paragraph (b)(1) of this 
clause requires complete and unedited broadcast coverage of the 
proceedings of the House has held (by tabling an appeal of a ruling of 
the Chair) that it does not require in-House microphone amplification of 
disorderly conduct by a Member following expiration of his recognition 
for debate (Mar. 16, 1988, p. 4081).




Sec. 634d. Office of the Historian.

  10.  There is 
established in the House of Representatives an office to be known as the 
Office of the Historian of the House of Representatives.



  This clause was added in the 101st Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1989, 
p. 72). See Sec. 996a, infra.




Sec. 634e. Office of General Counsel.

  11.  There is 
established in the House of Representatives an office to be known as the 
Office of General Counsel for the purpose of providing legal assistance 
and representation to the House. Legal assistance and representation 
shall be provided without regard to political affiliation. The Office of 
General Counsel shall function pursuant to the direction of the Speaker, 
who shall consult with a Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, which shall 
include the majority and minority leaderships. The Speaker shall appoint 
and set the annual rate of pay for employees of the Office of General 
Counsel.



  This clause was added in the 103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, 
p. ----). The previous year, in section 12 of the House Administrative 
Reform Resolution of 1992 (H. Res. 423, Apr. 9, 1992, p. ----), the 
House had directed the Committee on House Administration to provide for 
an Office of General Counsel in a manner ensuring appropriate 
coordination with and participation by both the majority and minority 
leaderships in matters of representation and litigation.




Sec. 634f. Authority to declare recesses.

  12.  To suspend the 
business of the House for a short time when no question is pending 
before the House, the Speaker may declare a recess subject to the call 
of the Chair.









[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 336-337]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-86]

[[Page 336]]

 
  This clause was added in the 103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, 
p. ----).


                                Rule II.


                          ELECTION OF OFFICERS.




Sec. 635. Election, oath, and removal of 
officers.

  There  shall be elected by a viva voce vote, at the commencement of 
each Congress, to continue in office until their successors are chosen 
and qualified, a Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Chief Administrative Officer, 
and Chaplain, each of whom shall take an oath to support the 
Constitution of the United States, and for the true and faithful 
discharge of the duties of his office to the best of his knowledge and 
ability, and to keep the secrets of the House; and each shall appoint 
all of the employees of his department provided for by law. The Clerk, 
Sergeant-at-Arms, and Chief Administrative Officer may be removed by the 
House or by the Speaker.


  A rudimentary form of this rule was adopted in 1789, and was amended 
several times prior to 1880, when it assumed the form it retained for 
more than a century (I, 187). During the 102d Congress, section 2 of the 
House Administrative Reform Resolution of 1992 amended the rule to 
abolish the office of the Postmaster (see Sec. 654a, infra) and to 
empower the Speaker to remove elected officers (H. Res. 423, Apr. 9, 
1992, p. ----). The 104th Congress made conforming changes to the rule 
to reflect the abolishment of the Office of the Doorkeeper and the 
establishment of an elected Chief Administrative Officer (sec. 201(a), 
H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). For a discussion of the former Office 
of the Doorkeeper, see Sec. 651d, infra; and for a discussion of the 
evolution of the Chief Administrative Officer (an elected officer) from 
the former Director of Non-legislative and Financial Services (an 
officer appointed jointly by the Speaker and the Majority and Minority 
Leaders under clause 1 of rule VI of the 103d Congress), see Sec. 651e, 
infra.


[[Page 337]]
of both Houses of Congress (VI, 23). The act of 1789 provides that the 
oath of office shall be administered to the Speaker by any Member and by 
the Speaker to the Clerk (I, 130). The Speaker also at the same time 
administers the oath to the other elective officers (I, 81). The Member 
of longest continuous service has traditionally administered the oath to 
the Speaker (I, 131). However, on some occasions the Speaker has 
selected the Member to administer the oath (VI, 6, 7). The requirement 
that the officers be sworn to keep the secrets of the House had become 
obsolete (I, 187), but the 104th Congress adopted a requirement that 
Members, officers, and employees subscribe an oath of secrecy regarding 
classified information (clause 13 of rule XLIII).
  The House having discarded a theory that the rules might be imposed by 
one House on its successor (V, 6743-6745), it follows that this rule is 
not operative at the organization. The House, by order or usage, elects 
its Speaker viva voce on a roll call (I, 204, 208); but the officers 
mentioned in the rule are usually chosen by resolution, which is not a 
viva voce election (I, 193, 194). A majority vote is required for the 
election of officers 





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 337-343]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-87]

 
  The House has declined to interfere with the Clerk's power of removing 
his subordinates (I, 249). Employees under the clerk and other officers 
are to be assigned only to the duties for which they are appointed (V, 
7232). The Sergeant-at-Arms having died, the Clerk was elected by the 
House to serve temporarily also as Sergeant-at-Arms without additional 
compensation (July 8, 1953, p. 8242). An amendment to the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946 was enacted by the 83d Congress (2 U.S.C. 
75a-1) authorizing temporary appointments by the Speaker to fill 
vacancies in the offices of Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Doorkeeper, 
Postmaster, or Chaplain. Lyle O. Snader, who was serving 
contemporaneously as Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms, having resigned as 
Sergeant-at-Arms, the Speaker appointed a temporary Sergeant-at-Arms 
(Jan. 6, 1954, p. 8). Other temporary appointments of a Sergeant-at-Arms 
were made pursuant to this authority in the 92d Congress (June 30, 1972, 
p. 23665), in the 96th Congress (Feb. 28, 1980, pp. 4349-50), and in the 
102d Congress (Mar. 12, 1992, p. ----). The Speaker has also appointed a 
temporary Chaplain (Mar. 14, 1966, p. 5712), a temporary Doorkeeper 
(Dec. 20, 1974, p. 41855), and a temporary Clerk (Nov. 15, 1975, p. 
36901).


                                Rule III.


                          DUTIES OF THE CLERK.



[[Page 338]]



Sec. 637. Clerk's duties at organization.

  1.  The Clerk 
shall, at the commencement of the first session of each Congress, call 
the Members to order, proceed to call the roll of Members by States in 
alphabetical order, and, pending the election of a Speaker or Speaker 
pro tempore, preserve order and decorum, and decide all questions of 
order subject to appeal by any Member.


  This portion of the rule was framed in 1880, on a basis furnished by a 
rule of 1860 (I, 64), and amended in 1911.

  As rules are not usually adopted until after the election of Speaker, 
this rule is not in force at the time of organization of a new House. 
The procedure at organization does, however, follow a practice 
conforming to the terms of the rule (I, 81), although the House may 
depart from it. In the 97th Congress, for example, the House did, by 
unanimous consent, permit the alphabetical roll call of Members by 
States to be conducted by electronic device, to establish a quorum (Jan. 
5, 1981, pp. 93-96).

  While the Speaker ceases to be an officer of the House with the 
expiration of a Congress, the Clerk, by old usage, continues in a new 
Congress (I, 187, 188, 235, 244).-



Sec. 638. The roll of Memberselect.

  The  roll of Members is 
made up by the Clerk from the credentials, in accordance with a 
provision of law (I, 14-62; VI, 2; 2 U.S.C. 26). A certificate of 
election in due form having been filed, the Clerk placed the name of the 
Member-elect on the roll, although he was subsequently advised that a 
State Supreme Court had issued a writ restraining the Secretary of State 
from issuing such certificate (Jan. 3, 1949, p. 8). The call of the roll 
may not be interrupted, especially by one not on that roll (I, 84), and 
a person not on the roll may not be recognized (I, 86). A motion to 
proceed to the election of Speaker is of higher privilege than a motion 
to correct the roll (I, 19-24). The House has declined to permit 
enrollment by the Clerk to be final as to prima facie right (I, 376, 
589, 592).


  The Clerk, in presiding before the election of Speaker, recognizes 
Members (I, 74).

  The Members-elect have, before the election of Speaker or adoption of 
rules, authorized the Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms of the last House to 
preserve order (I, 101); but usually such action has not been taken, 
although an occasion might arise to make it necessary (I, 76, 77).



[[Page 339]]



Sec. 639. Clerk as presiding officer at 
organizations.

  In  early years the authority of the Clerk to decide 
questions of order pending the election of a Speaker was questioned (I, 
65), and the Clerks often declined to make decisions (I, 68-72; V, 
5325), although in 1855 occur exceptions to this theory (I, 91). But in 
1860 the provisions of the present rule were adopted (I, 64), with a 
further rule that the rules of one House should apply in the 
organization of its successor (V, 6743-6747); and under this arrangement 
the Clerks have made rulings (I, 76, 77; VI, 623). In 1890 the theory 
that the rules of one House may be made binding on its successor was 
overthrown (V, 6747). In a case of vacancy arising after the adoption of 
rules, this rule would be operative and conclude questions as to the 
Clerk's authority. The Clerk having died, and in the absence of the 
Sergeant-at-Arms, the Doorkeeper of the 79th Congress presided at 
organization of the 80th Congress (Jan. 3, 1947, p. 33).





Sec. 640. Clerk furnishes a list of reports.

  2.  He shall 
make and cause to be printed and delivered to each Member, or mailed to 
his address, at the commencement of every regular session of Congress, a 
list of the reports which it is the duty of any officer or Department to 
make to Congress, referring to the act or resolution and page of the 
volume of the laws or Journal in which it may be contained, and placing 
under the name of each officer the list of reports required of him to be 
made.



  This rule was adopted in 1822 (I, 252).


[[Page 340]]
that Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner which has been 
printed, by order of either House <> of the Congress, in any 
Congress in which he served; attest and affix the seal of the House to 
all writs, warrants, and subpoenas issued by order of the House; and 
certify to the passage of all bills and joint resolutions.



Sec. 641. Clerk's duty as to Journal and documents.

  3.  He 
shall note all questions of order, with the decisions thereon, the 
record of which shall be printed as an appendix to the Journal of each 
session; and complete, as soon after the close of the session as 
possible, the printing and distribution to Members, Delegates, and the 
Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico of the Journal of the House, 
together with an accurate and complete index; retain in the library at 
his office, for the use of the Members, Delegates, the Resident 
Commissioner from Puerto Rico and officers of the House, and not to be 
withdrawn therefrom, two copies of all the books and printed documents 
deposited there; send, at the end of each session, a printed copy of the 
Journal thereof to the executive and to each branch of the legislature 
of every State; deliver or mail to any Member, Delegate, or the Resident 
Commissioner from Puerto Rico an extra copy, in binding of good quality, 
of each document requested by 


  Former provisions of this clause directing the Clerk to make all 
contracts, keep contingent and stationery accounts, and pay officers and 
employees were stricken by section 3 of the House Administrative Reform 
Resolution of 1992 (H. Res. 423, 102d Cong., Apr. 9, 1992, p. ----), to 
relieve the Clerk of functions to be transferred to the Director of Non-
legislative and Financial Services pursuant to section 7 of that 
resolution (see Sec. 651e, infra). A clerical correction was effected in 
the 104th Congress (sec. 223(f), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

  When the House issues an order or warrant, the Speaker must issue the 
summons under his hand and seal, and it must be attested by the Clerk; 
but when the power is granted to a committee to send for persons and 
papers under clause 2(m) of rule XI, a summons signed by the chairman of 
the committee is sufficient (III, 1668).


  The Clerk is required to make certain reports on receipts and 
expenditures (2 U.S.C. 102, 103, 113), which are available to the 
public. But members of the public have no statutory or constitutional 
right to examine the actual financial records which are used in 
preparing such reports (Trimble v. Johnston, 173 F. Supp. 651, D.C. 
Cir., 1959).


[[Page 341]]
and shall be laid before the House and entered on the Journal.



Sec. 647a. Official to act as Clerk upon designation.

  4.  He 
shall, in case of temporary absence or disability, designate an official 
in his office to sign all papers that may require the official signature 
of the Clerk of the House, and to do all other acts, except such as are 
provided for by statute, that may be required under the rules and 
practices of the House to be done by the Clerk. Such official acts, when 
so done by the designated official, shall be under the name of the Clerk 
of the House. The said designation shall be in writing, 


  In 1880 several rules, adopted at different periods from 1794 to 1846, 
were consolidated into this rule; which was amended in 1892 (I, 251) and 
January 3, 1953, p. 16. Section 3 was amended January 22, 1971, (H. Res. 
5, pp. 140-44) to make it clear that the Delegate from the District of 
Columbia and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, as well as 
Members, are entitled to the services rendered the House by the Clerk. 
It was again revised in 1972 (H. Res. 1153, Oct. 13, 1972, pp. 36013-
15), effective at the beginning of the 93d Congress, to extend the 
services of the Clerk to all Delegates, including those provided for the 
Territories of Guam and the Virgin Islands by a law enacted in the 92d 
Congress. Section 4 was adopted January 18, 1912 (VI, 25) and was 
amended January 3, 1953, p. 16.


<>   5. The Clerk is 
authorized to receive messages from the President and from the Senate at 
any time that the House is not in session.

  Various other administrative duties, similar to those specified in 
this rule, are imposed on the Clerk by law (I, 253; Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946, 60 Stat. 812); and the law also makes it his 
duty to furnish stationery, blank books, etc., to the committees and 
officers of the House (V, 7322); to exercise discretionary authority as 
to reprinting of bills and documents (V, 7319); to receive the testimony 
taken in election contests (I, 703, 705; see also Federal Contested 
Election Act, P.L. 91-138, 83 Stat. 284), and to serve as an ex officio 
member of the Federal Election Commission established pursuant to Public 
Law 94-283; 2 U.S.C. 437c. Form of designation of a Clerk pro tempore 
(VI, 26). Instance of Clerk serving temporarily also as Sergeant-at-Arms 
(July 8, 1953, p. 8242).



[[Page 342]]

  Clause 5, providing standing authority for the Clerk to receive 
messages, was added in the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 
98-113). In the case of Kennedy v. Sampson, 511 F.2d 430 (D.C. Cir. 
1974) (see Sec. 113, supra, accompanying Const., art. I, sec. 7, cl. 2) 
a United States Court of Appeals held that a bill could not be pocket-
vetoed by the President during an ``intrasession'' adjournment of 
Congress to a day certain for more than three days, where the House of 
origin has made appropriate arrangements for the receipt of presidential 
messages during the adjournment. Under this clause the Clerk may receive 
messages during recesses as well as during adjournments (Dec. 22, 1987, 
p. 37966).




Sec. 647c. Administration of vacant Member's office.

  6.  He 
shall supervise the staff and manage any office of a Member who is 
deceased, has resigned, or been expelled until a successor is elected 
and shall perform similar duties in the event that a vacancy is declared 
by the House in any congressional district because of the incapacity of 
the Member representing such district or other reason. Whenever the 
Clerk is acting as a supervisory authority over such staff, he shall 
have authority to terminate employees; and he may appoint, with the 
approval of the Committee on House Oversight, such staff as is required 
to operate the office until a successor is elected. He shall maintain on 
the House payroll and supervise in the same manner staff appointed 
pursuant to section 800 of Public Law 91-665 (2 U.S.C. 31b-5) for sixty 
days following the death of a former Speaker.



-  7. <> In addition to any other 
reports required by the Speaker or the Committee on House Oversight, the 
Clerk shall report to the Committee on House Oversight not later than 
forty-five days following the close of each semiannual period ending on 
June 30 or on December 31 on the financial and operational status of 
each function under the jurisdiction of the Clerk. Each report shall 
include financial statements, a description or explanation of cur

[[Page 343]]
rent operations, the implementation of new policies and procedures, and 
future plans for each function.
  This clause was added in the 98th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1983, 
p. 34). It was amended in the 104th Congress to reflect the new name of 
the Committee on House Oversight (sec. 202(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, 
p. ----).




Sec. 647e. Cooperation with others.

  8.  The Clerk shall fully 
cooperate with the appropriate offices and persons in the performance of 
reviews and audits of financial records and administrative operations.






[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 343-346]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-88]

 
  Clauses 7 and 8 were added in the 104th Congress (sec. 201(b), H. Res. 
6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).


                                Rule IV.


                     DUTIES OF THE SERGEANT-AT-ARMS.




Sec. 648. SergeantatArms enforces authority of House.

  1.  It 
shall be the duty of the Sergeant-at-Arms to attend the House during its 
sittings, to maintain order under the direction of the Speaker or 
Chairman, and, pending the election of a Speaker or Speaker pro tempore, 
under the direction of the Clerk, execute the commands of the House, and 
all processes issued by authority thereof, directed to him by the 
Speaker.



[[Page 344]]
from Puerto Rico were stricken by section 4 of the House Administrative 
Reform Resolution of 1992 (H. Res. 423, 102d Cong., Apr. 9, 1992, p. --
--), to relieve the Sergeant-at-Arms of functions to be transferred to 
the Director of Non-legislative and Financial Services pursuant to 
section 7 of that resolution (see Sec. 651e, infra). During the 102d 
Congress, the House adopted a resolution presented by the Majority 
Leader as a question of the privileges of the House to terminate all 
bank and check-cashing operations in the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms 
and direct the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to review GAO 
audits of such operations (Oct. 3, 1991, p. ----). When rule IV was 
rewritten entirely in the 104th Congress, clause 1 was restated without 
change (sec. 201(c), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
  This clause was adopted in 1789, with additions and amendments in 
1838, 1877, 1890 (I, 257), April 5, 1911 (VI, 29) and 1971. Amendments 
adopted in the 92d Congress clarified the responsibility of the 
Sergeant-at-Arms to keep the accounts for the pay and mileage of the 
Delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Virgin Islands 
and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico as well as for Members 
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144; H. Res. 1153, Oct. 13, 1972, pp. 
36013-15). In the 94th Congress, the provisions of House Resolution 732, 
directing the Sergeant-at-Arms to enter into agreements with State 
officials, with the approval of the Committee on House Administration 
(now House Oversight), to withhold State income taxes from the pay of 
each Member subject to such State income tax and requesting such 
withholding, were enacted into permanent law (90 Stat. 1448; 2 U.S.C. 
60e-1b). Former provisions of this clause directing the Sergeant-at-Arms 
to keep the accounts for the pay and mileage of Members and Delegates 
and the Resident Commissioner 

  The Sergeant-at-Arms is authorized to make payments from the 
contingent fund of the House, under rules prescribed by the Committee on 
House Oversight, to defray the expenses of the funeral of a deceased 
Member of the House and the expenses of any delegation of Members of 
Congress duly appointed to attend (76 Stat. 686; 2 U.S.C. 124).

  At the organization of the House in a new Congress the election of 
Speaker occurs before the adoption of rules. Therefore this rule is not 
in force at that time, and in case of necessity a special rule may be 
adopted conferring the authority, as was done in 1849 and 1859 (I, 101, 
102).


-- <>   2. The symbol of his office shall be the mace, which shall 
be borne by him while enforcing order on the floor.


[[Page 345]]

  Duties are imposed on the Sergeant-at-Arms by law (I, 258): Control of 
Capitol police; and the making up of the roll of Members-elect and 
presiding over the organization of a new Congress in case of vacancy in 
the office of Clerk, or the absence or disability of that officer (2 
U.S.C. 26). The death of the Sergeant-at-Arms being announced, the House 
passed appropriate resolutions and adjourned as a mark of respect (VI, 
32; July 8, 1953, p. 8263). The Clerk having died, and in the absence of 
the Sergeant-at-Arms, the Doorkeeper of the 79th Congress presided at 
organization of the 80th Congress (Jan. 3, 1947, p. 33). In the 83d 
Congress the Sergeant-at-Arms having died, the Clerk was elected to 
serve temporarily both as Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms (July 8, 1953, p. 
8242), and upon resignation by the Clerk from his additional position of 
Sergeant-at-Arms, the Speaker, pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 75a-1, appointed a 
temporary Sergeant-at-Arms (Jan. 6, 1954, p. 8). The Sergeant-at-Arms 
having resigned in the 96th Congress, the Speaker appointed a temporary 
Sergeant-at-Arms pursuant to the statute (Feb. 28, 1980, pp. 4349-50); 
and the same occurred in the 102d Congress (Mar. 12, 1992, p. ----). 
Instance where the Senate by resolution removed its Sergeant-at-Arms 
(VI, 37).


  This clause was adopted in 1789 (II, 1346). When rule IV was rewritten 
entirely in the 104th Congress, the clause was restated without change 
(sec. 201(c), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). An attempt to enforce 
order without the mace gave rise to a question of privilege (II, 1347). 
Extreme disorder arising on the floor, the Speaker directed the 
Sergeant-at-Arms to enforce order with the mace (VI, 258; VIII, 2530).



Sec. 650a. Doorkeeping.

  3.  He shall enforce strictly the 
rules relating to the privileges of the Hall and be responsible to the 
House for the official conduct of his employees.



  4. He shall allow no person to enter the room over the Hall of the 
House during its sittings; and fifteen minutes before the hour of the 
meeting of the House each day he shall see that the floor is cleared of 
all persons except those privileged to remain, and kept so until ten 
minutes after adjournment.


-  5. In <> addition to any other 
reports required by the Speaker or the Committee on House Oversight, the 
Sergeant-at-Arms shall report to the Committee on House Oversight not 
later than forty-five days following the close of each semiannual period 
ending June 30 or on December 31 on the financial and operational status 
of each function under the jurisdiction of the Sergeant-at-Arms. Each 
report shall include financial statements, a description or explanation 
of current operations, the implementation of new policies and 
procedures, and future plans for each function.

[[Page 346]]

  Clauses 3 and 4 were added in the 104th Congress to transfer functions 
incident to the abolishment of the Office of the Doorkeeper (sec. 
201(c), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). For the history of the Office 
of the Doorkeeper, see Sec. 651d, infra.




Sec. 650c. Cooperation with others.

  6. The  Sergeant-at-Arms 
shall fully cooperate with the appropriate offices and persons in the 
performance of reviews and audits of financial records and 
administrative operations.






[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 346-347]
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[DOCID:hrmanual-89]

 
  Clauses 5 and 6 were added in the 104th Congress (sec. 201(c), H. Res. 
6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).


                                 Rule V.


                      CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER.



Sec. 651a. Duties.

  1.  The Chief Administrative Officer of 
the House shall have operational and financial responsibility for 
functions as assigned by the Speaker and the Committee on House 
Oversight, and shall be subject to the policy direction and oversight of 
the Speaker and the Committee on House Oversight.-




Sec. 651b. Semiannual reports.

  2.  In addition to any other 
reports required by the Speaker or the Committee on House Oversight, the 
Chief shall report to the Committee on House Oversight not later than 
forty-five days following the close of each semiannual period ending on 
June 30 or December 31 on the financial and operational status of each 
function under the jurisdiction of the Chief. Each report shall include 
financial statements, a description or explanation of current 
operations, the implementation of new policies and procedures, and 
future plans for each function.



[[Page 347]]
of financial records and administrative operations.



Sec. 651c. Cooperation with others.

  3.  The Chief shall fully 
cooperate with the appropriate offices and persons in the performance of 
reviews and audits 


  This form of rule V was adopted in the 104th Congress (sec. 201(c), H. 
Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). The earlier form of the rule enumerated 
the duties of the Doorkeeper, which were transferred to the Sergeant-at-
Arms incident to the abolishment of the Office of the Doorkeeper (id.).



Sec. 651d. Former Office of Doorkeeper.

  Before  the 104th 
Congress (sec. 201(c), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----), rule V 
enumerated the duties of the Doorkeeper, who enforced the rules relating 
to the privileges of the Hall of the House. The earlier form of the rule 
was adopted in 1838 and amended in 1869, 1880 (I, 260), and 1890 (V, 
7295). By law the Doorkeeper was assigned certain administrative duties 
(I, 262), including certain housekeeping functions. Through his 
employees and appointees, the Doorkeeper also discharged various duties 
not enumerated in the law or in the rules, such as announcing at the 
door of the Hall of the House all messengers from the President and the 
Senate (V, 6591). The Clerk having died, and the Sergeant-at-Arms having 
been absent, the Doorkeeper of the 79th Congress presided at the 
organization of the 80th Congress (Jan. 3, 1947, p. 33). In the 78th 
Congress, the House adopted a resolution on the death of the Doorkeeper 
and appointed a committee to attend his funeral (Jan. 28, 1943, pp. 421-
22).-









[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 348-350]
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[DOCID:hrmanual-90]

[[Page 348]]

 


Sec. 651e. Former Director of Nonlegislative and 
Financial Services.

  The Chief  Administrative Officer supplanted the Director of 
Non-legislative and Financial Services formerly provided for under 
clause 1 of rule VI in the 103d Congress, which corresponded to an 
erstwhile rule LII of the 102d Congress (see Sec. 654, infra). Certain 
functions and entities formerly within the purview of elected officers 
were transferred to the Director of Non-legislative and Financial 
Services pursuant to section 7 of the House Administrative Reform 
Resolution of 1992 (H. Res. 423, Apr. 9, 1992, p. ----). Section 7(b) of 
that resolution vested the Committee on House Administration (now House 
Oversight) with authority to prescribe regulations providing for the 
orderly transfer of such functions and entities and any other transfers 
necessary for the improvement of non-legislative and financial services 
in the House, so long as not transferring a function or entity within 
the jurisdiction of the Committee under rule X. Section 13 of the 
resolution provided that previous responsibility for a function or 
entity would remain fixed until such function or entity were 
transferred. Pursuant to clause 1 of rule VI of the 103d Congress (then 
still designated as rule LII of the 102d Congress), the Speaker, the 
Majority Leader, and the Minority Leader jointly appointed the first 
Director of Non-legislative and Financial Services of the House on 
October 23, 1992 (Oct. 29, 1992, p. ----).



                                Rule VI.


                      OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.



Sec. 654. Inspector General.

  1.  There is established an 
Office of Inspector General.


  2. The Inspector General shall be appointed for a Congress by the 
Speaker, the majority leader, and the minority leader, acting jointly.

  3. Subject to the policy direction and oversight of the Committee on 
House Oversight, the Inspector General shall be responsible only for--

          (a) conducting periodic audits of the financial and 
administrative functions of the House and joint entities;

          (b) informing the Officers or other officials who are the 
subject of an audit of the results of that audit and suggesting 
appropriate curative actions;

          (c) simultaneously notifying the Speaker, the majority leader, 
the minority leader, and the chairman and ranking minority party member 
of the Committee on House Oversight in the case of any financial 
irregularity discovered in the course of carrying out responsibilities 
under this rule;

          (d) simultaneously submitting to the Speaker, the majority 
leader, and the chairman and ranking minority party member of the 
Committee on House Oversight a report of each audit conducted under this 
rule; and


[[Page 349]]
ing possible violations by any Member, officer, or employee of the 
House of any rule of the House or of any law applicable to the 
performance of official duties or the discharge of official 
responsibilities which may require referral to the appropriate Federal 
or State authorities pursuant to clause 4(e)(1)(C) of rule X.

          (e) reporting to the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct information involv

  This form of rule VI was adopted in the 104th Congress (sec. 201(c), 
H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). Its predecessor form was composed in 
the 103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----) by combining two 
rules adopted in the House Administrative Reform Resolution of 1992 (H. 
Res. 423, 102d Cong., Apr. 9, 1992, p. ----). For the history of rule VI 
before 1992, see Sec. 654a, infra.

  In the form of the rule adopted in the 103d Congress, clause 1 
corresponded to an erstwhile rule LII of the 102d Congress (relating to 
the Director of Non-legislative and Financial Services, who in the 104th 
Congress was supplanted by the Chief Administrative Officer; see rule V, 
Secs. 651a-e, supra), and clause 2 corresponded to an erstwhile rule 
LIII of the 102d Congress (relating to the Inspector General). In 
converting clause 2 of the former rule VI into the present rule VI, the 
104th Congress: broadened the auditing responsibilities beyond the 
offices of the elected officers (paragraph (a), formerly clause 
2(c)(1)); added requirements for simultaneous reporting (paragraphs (c) 
and (d), formerly clauses 2(c)(3) and (4)); deleted a provision relating 
to classification of employees (formerly clause 2(d)); and added the 
responsibility to report certain information to the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct (paragraph (e)) (sec. 201, H. Res. 6, 
104th Congress, p. ----). The 104th Congress also mandated that the 
Inspector General, in consultation with the Speaker and the Committee on 
House Oversight, procure an independent and comprehensive audit of House 
financial records and administrative operations and report the results 
thereof in accord with this rule (sec. 107, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. 
----).


  Pursuant to clause 2(b) of the form of the rule adopted in the 103d 
Congress, the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the Minority Leader 
jointly appointed the first Inspector General of the House of 
Representatives (Nov. 10, 1993, p. ----).


[[Page 350]]
Cong., pp. 36013-15). The Office of the Postmaster was abolished during 
the 102d Congress by sections 2 and 5 of the House Administrative Reform 
Resolution of 1992 (H. Res. 423, Apr. 9, 1992, p. ----).




[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 350]
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[DOCID:hrmanual-91]

 


Sec. 654a. Former Office of the Postmaster.

  Until  the 102d 
Congress, rule VI provided for an Office of the Postmaster, who 
superintended the post offices of the House and the delivery of its 
mail. The earlier form of the rule was adopted in 1838 and amended in 
1880 (I, 270), 1911 (VI, 34), 1971 (H. Res. 5, 92d Cong., p. 144), and 
1972 (H. Res. 1153, 92d 



                                Rule VII.


                         DUTIES OF THE CHAPLAIN.




Sec. 655. Duties of the Chaplain.

  The  Chaplain shall attend 
at the commencement of each day's sitting of the House and open the same 
with prayer.


  This rule was adopted in 1880 (I, 272), but the sessions of the House 
were opened with prayer from the first, and the Chaplain was an officer 
of the House before the adoption of the rule (I, 273-282). The Chaplain 
takes the oath prescribed for the officers of the House (VI, 31; Feb. 1, 
1950, p. 1311). Prayer by the Chaplain is not business requiring the 
presence of a quorum and the Speaker declines to entertain a point of no 
quorum before prayer is offered (VI, 663; clause 6(a) (1) of rule XV). 
There is no precedent for prayer to be offered by the Chaplain during a 
continuous session of the House, absent an adjournment or recess 
(compare Apr. 22 and 23, 1985, pp. 8753 and 8959). Form of resignation 
of the Chaplain (Feb. 28, 1921, p. 4075; Jan. 30, 1950, p. 1097). The 
election of a Chaplain emeritus (VI, 31; Jan. 30, 1950, p. 1095).





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 350-353]
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[DOCID:hrmanual-92]

 
  In the 97th Congress, the House adopted a privileged resolution 
asserting the constitutional prerogative of the House to establish the 
office of Chaplain and directing counsel for the Speaker and Chaplain to 
seek judicial review of a United States Court of Appeals decision 
(Murray v. Buchanan, 729 F.2d 689) holding that no constitutional 
provision precluded judicial determination whether establishment of the 
Chaplain violated the establishment clause of the First amendment to the 
Constitution (H. Res. 413, Mar. 30, 1982, p. 5890).


                               Rule VIII.


                         DUTIES OF THE MEMBERS.


[[Page 351]]
on each question put, unless he has a direct <> personal or pecuniary interest in the event of such 
question.



Sec. 656. Members required to be present and vote.

  1.  Every 
Member shall be present within the Hall of the House during its 
sittings, unless excused or necessarily prevented; and shall vote 


  This clause was adopted in 1789, with amendment in 1890 (V, 5941).

  Leaves of absence are presented pending the motion to adjourn (IV, 
3151), and are usually granted by general consent, but sometimes are 
opposed or even refused (II, 1142-1145). Application for leave of 
absence is properly presented by filing with the Clerk the printed form 
to be secured at the desk rather than by oral request from the floor 
(VI, 199). Whether or not they are privileged is a matter of doubt (II, 
1146, 1147). Excuses for absence, as distinguished from leaves of 
absence, may be granted by less than a quorum (IV, 3000-3002). The 
statutes provide that deductions may be made from the salaries of 
Members who are absent without sufficient excuse (II, 1149, 1150); and 
while this law has been enforced (IV, 3011, footnote; VI, 30, 198), its 
general application is not practical under modern conditions. Form of 
resolution for the arrest of Members absent without leave (VI, 686).



Sec. 658. Member's control of his own vote.

  It  has been 
found impracticable to enforce the provision requiring every Member to 
vote (V, 5942-5948), and such question even if entertained, may not 
interrupt a pending rollcall vote (V, 5947); and the weight of authority 
also favors the idea that there is no authority in the House to deprive 
a Member of the right to vote (V, 5937, 5952, 5959, 5966, 5967; VIII, 
3072). In one or two early instances the Speaker has decided that 
because of personal interest, a Member should not vote (V, 5955, 5958); 
but on all other occasions and in the later practice the Speaker has 
held that the Member himself and not the Chair should determine this 
question (V, 5950, 5951; VIII, 3071; Speaker Albert, Dec. 2, 1975, p. 
38135; Speaker O'Neill, Mar. 1, 1979, p. 3748), and the Speaker has 
denied his own power to deprive a Member of the constitutional right to 
vote (V, 5956; Speaker Albert, Dec. 2, 1975, p. 38135; Speaker O'Neill, 
Mar. 1, 1979, p. 3748). Members may not vote in the House by proxy (VII, 
1014). Instance where a Member submitted his resignation from a 
committee on grounds of disqualifying personal interest (VIII, 3074).


  The House has frequently excused Members from voting in cases of 
personal interest (III, 2294; V, 5962; Aug. 2, 1949, pp. 10591, 10592; 
Oct. 20, 1951, p. 13746; July 21, 1954, p. 11262; July 28, 1955, p. 
11930; July 12, 1956, p. 12566).


[[Page 352]]
of several Members to their seats, each refrained from voting in his 
own case, but did vote on the identical cases of his associates (V, 
5957, 5958). And while a Member should not vote on the direct questions 
affecting himself, he has sometimes voted on incidental questions (V, 
5960, 5961).



Sec. 659. Nature of disqualifying personal interest.

  It  is a 
principle of ``immemorial observance'' that a Member should withdraw 
when a question concerning himself arises (V, 5949); but it has been 
held that the disqualifying interest must be such as affects the Member 
directly (V, 5954, 5955, 5963), and not as one of a class (V, 5952; 
VIII, 3071, 3072; Speaker Bankhead, May 31, 1939, pp. 6359-60; Speaker 
Albert, Dec. 2, 1975, p. 38135). In a case where question affected the 
titles 





Sec. 660a. Pairs.

  2.  Pairs shall be announced by the Clerk 
immediately before the announcement by the Chair of the result of the 
vote, by the House or Committee of the Whole from a written list 
furnished him, and signed by the Member making the statement to the 
Clerk, which list shall be published in the Record as a part of the 
proceedings, immediately following the names of those not voting. 
However, pairs shall be announced but once during the same legislative 
day.


  This clause was adopted in 1880, although the practice of pairing had 
then existed in the House for many years (V, 5981). The language of the 
clause was slightly altered by amendment in 1972 to reflect the 
installation of electronic voting in the 93d Congress (H. Res. 1123, 
Oct. 13, 1972, pp. 36005-12). This clause was amended in the 94th 
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20) to permit pairs to be 
announced in the Committee of the Whole.



[[Page 353]]

  Pairs may not be announced at a time other than that prescribed by the 
rule (V, 6046), and the voting intentions of an absent Member may not 
otherwise be announced by a colleague (VIII, 3151). Prior to the 94th 
Congress pairs were not permitted in Committee of the Whole (V, 5984; 
Speaker Albert, Jan. 15, 1973, p. 1054). The House does not consider 
questions arising out of the breaking of a pair (V, 5982, 5983, 6095; 
VIII, 3082, 3085, 3087-3089, 3093), or permit a Member to vote after the 
call on the plea that he had refrained because of misunderstanding as to 
a pair (V, 6080, 6081). Discussion of the origin of the practice of 
pairing in the House and Senate (VIII, 3076). On questions requiring a 
two-thirds majority Members are paired two in the affirmative against 
one in the negative (VIII, 3088; Nov. 15, 1983, p. 32685). For Speaker 
Clark's interpretation of the rule and practice of the House of 
Representatives as to pairs, see VIII, 3089.



Sec. 660b. Voting.

  3.  (a) A Member may not authorize any 
other individual to cast his vote or record his presence in the House or 
Committee of the Whole.


  (b) No individual other than a Member may cast a vote or record a 
Member's presence in the House or Committee of the Whole.


  (c) A Member may not cast a vote for any other Member or record 
another Member's presence in the House or Committee of the Whole.





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 353-365]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-93]

 
  Clause 3 was added in the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 
98-113). The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct recommended this 
addition to the rules in its May 15, 1980, report (H. Rept. 96-991) on 
voting anomalies which had occurred in the House. Even prior to the 
addition of this clause, however, ``ghost voting'' was considered 
unethical (VII, 1014; Dec. 18, 1987, p. 36274).


                                Rule IX.


                         QUESTIONS OF PRIVILEGE.




Sec. 661. Definition of questions of privilege.

  1.  Questions 
of privilege shall be, first, those affecting the rights of the House 
collectively, its safety, dignity, and the integrity of its proceedings; 
and second, those affecting the rights, reputation, and conduct of 
Members, individually, in their representative capacity only.



[[Page 354]]
questions except motions to adjourn. A resolution offered from the 
floor by a Member other than the majority leader or the minority leader 
as a question of the privileges of the House shall have precedence of 
all other questions except motions to adjourn only at a time or place, 
designated by the Speaker, in the legislative schedule within two 
legislative days after the day on which the proponent announces to the 
House his intention to offer the resolution and the form of the 
resolution.


Sec. 661a. Precedence of questions of privilege.

  2.  (a)(1) A 
resolution reported as a question of the privileges of the House, or 
offered from the floor by the majority leader or the minority leader as 
a question of the privileges of the House, or offered as privileged 
under article I, section 7, clause 1 of the Constitution, shall have 
precedence of all other 


  (2) The time allotted for debate on a resolution offered from the 
floor as a question of the privileges of the House shall be equally 
divided between (A) the proponent of the resolution, and (B) the 
majority leader or the minority leader or a designee, as determined by 
the Speaker.


  (b) A question of personal privilege shall have precedence of all 
other questions except motions to adjourn.

  This rule was adopted in 1880 (III, 2521). It merely put in form of 
definition what had been long established in the practice of the House 
but what the House had hitherto been unwilling to define (II, 1603). It 
was amended in the 103d Congress to authorize the Speaker to designate a 
time within a period of two legislative days for the consideration of a 
resolution to be offered from the floor by a Member other than the 
Majority Leader or the Minority Leader as a question of the privileges 
of the House after that Member has announced to the House his intention 
to do so and the content of the resolution, and to divide the time for 
debate on a resolution offered from the floor as a question of the 
privileges of the House (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----).


[[Page 355]]
but may announce his designation at a later time (Feb. 11, 1994, p. --
--). The Speaker does not rule on the privileged status of a resolution 
at the time that resolution is noticed, but only when the resolution is 
called up within two legislative days (Feb. 11, 1994, p. ----; Sept. 13, 
1994, p. ----; Feb. 3, 1995, p. ----).

  Under the form of the rule adopted in the 103d Congress, the Speaker 
may in his discretion recognize a Member other than the Majority or 
Minority Leader to proceed immediately on a resolution offered as a 
question of the privileges of the House without first designating a 
subsequent time or place in the legislative schedule within two 
legislative days (Speaker Foley, Feb. 3, 1993, p. ----); and he is not 
required to announce the time designated to consider a resolution at the 
time the resolution is noticed 



Sec. 662. Privilege of the House.

  The  privileges of the 
House, as distinguished from that of the individual Member, include 
questions relating to its constitutional prerogatives in respect to 
revenue legislation and appropriations (II, 1480-1501; VI, 315; Nov. 8, 
1979, pp. 31517-18; Oct. 1, 1985, p. 25418; June 16, 1988, p. 14780; 
June 21, 1988, p. 15425; Aug. 12, 1994, p. ----), when the House is in 
possession of the papers (June 20, 1968, Deschler's Precedents, vol. 3, 
ch. 13, sec. 14.2; Aug. 19, 1982, p. 22127), but not otherwise (Apr. 6, 
1995, p. ----); including revenue and other treaties (II, 1502-1537); 
impeachments and matters incidental thereto (Sec. 604, supra); the 
constitutional prerogatives of the House with respect to bills ``pocket 
vetoed'' during an intersession adjournment (Nov. 21, 1989, p. 31156); 
its power to punish for contempt, whether of its own Members (II, 1641-
1665), of witnesses who are summoned to give information (II, 1608, 
1612; III, 1666-1724), or of other persons (II, 1597-1640). However, 
neither the enumeration of legislative powers in article I, section 8 of 
the Constitution nor the prohibition in the seventh clause of section 9 
of that article against any withdrawal from the Treasury except by 
enactment of an appropriation renders a measure purporting to exercise 
or limit the exercise of those powers a question of the privileges of 
the House, because rule IX is concerned not with the privileges of the 
Congress, as a legislative branch, but only with the privileges of the 
House, as a House (Speaker Gingrich, Feb. 7, 1995, p. ----).



[[Page 356]]
porary seating of a certified Member-elect pending determination of 
final right notwithstanding prior House action declining to seat either 
claimant (Feb. 7, 1985, p. 2220; Mar. 4, 1985, p. 4277).
  The privileges of the House also include questions relating to its 
organization (I, 22-24, 189, 212, 290), and the title of its Members to 
their seats (III, 2579-2587), which may be raised as questions of the 
privileges of the House even though the subject has been previously 
referred to committee (I, 742; III, 2584; VIII, 2307), such as 
resolutions to declare prima facie right to a seat, or to declare a 
vacancy, where the House has referred the questions of prima facie and 
final rights to an elections committee for investigation (H. Res. 1, 
Jan. 3, 1985, p. 381; H. Res. 52, Feb. 7, 1985, p. 2220; H. Res. 97, 
Mar. 4, 1985, p. 4277; H. Res. 121, Apr. 2, 1985, p. 7118; H. Res. 148, 
Apr. 30, 1985, p. 9801); various questions incidental to the right to a 
seat (I, 322, 328, 673, 742; II, 1207; III, 2588; VII, 2316), such as a 
resolution declaring a vacancy in the House because a Member-elect is 
unable to take the oath of office and to serve as a Member or to 
expressly resign the office due to an incapacitating illness (H. Res. 
80, Feb. 24, 1981, p. 2916); a resolution declaring neither of two 
claimants seated pending a committee report and decision of final right 
to the seat by the House (Jan. 3, 1961, pp. 23-25; Jan. 3, 1985, p. 
381), including incidental provisions providing compensation for both 
claimants and office staffing by the Clerk (Jan. 3, 1985, p. 381), and 
resolutions directing tem

  The privileges of the House include questions relating to the conduct 
of officers and employees (I, 284, 285; III, 2628, 2645-2647; VI, 35), 
in addition to that of Members, such as a resolution directing the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate illegal 
solicitation of political contributions in the House Office Building by 
unnamed sitting Members (July 10, 1985, p. 18397); a resolution 
establishing an ad hoc committee to investigate allegations of ``ghost'' 
employment in the House (Apr. 9, 1992, p. ----); a resolution to further 
investigate the conduct of a Member on which it has reported to the 
House (Aug. 5, 1987, p. 22458); resolutions making allegations 
concerning the propriety of responses by officers of the House to court 
subpoenas for papers of the House without notice to the House, and 
directions to a committee to investigate such allegations (Feb. 13, 
1980, pp. 2768-69), or allegations of improper representation by counsel 
of the legal position of Members in a brief filed in the Court and 
directions for withdrawal of the brief (Mar. 22, 1990, p. 4996), or 
allegations of unauthorized actions by a committee employee to intervene 
in judicial proceedings (Feb. 5, 1992, p. ----); a resolution directing 
the Clerk to notify interested parties that the House regretted the use 
of official resources to present to the Supreme Court of Florida a legal 
brief arguing the unconstitutionality of Congressional term limits, and 
that the House had no position on that question (Nov. 4, 1991, p. ----); 
and a resolution alleging a chronology of litigation relating to the 
immunity of a Member from civil liability for bona fide official acts 
and expressing the views of the House thereon (May 12, 1988, p. 10574).


[[Page 357]]
the Special Counsel (May 28, 1992, p. ----). The latter category 
included resolutions: directing the Committee on House Administration to 
conduct a thorough investigation of the operation and management of the 
Office of the Postmaster in light of recent press allegations of 
wrongdoing (Feb. 5, 1992, p. ----); to create a select committee to 
investigate the same matter (Feb. 5, 1992, p. ----); requiring an 
explanation of a reported interference with authorized access to a 
committee investigation of that matter (Apr. 9, 1992, p. ----); to 
redress a perception of obstruction of justice by recusing the General 
Counsel to the Clerk from matters relating to the investigation of that 
matter (Apr. 9, 1992, p. ----); directing the Speaker to explain the 
lapse of time before the House received notice that several Members and 
an officer of the House had received subpoenas to testify before a 
Federal grand jury investigating that matter (May 14, 1992, p. ----); 
directing the Committee on House Administration to transmit to the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and to the Department of 
Justice all records obtained by its task force to investigate that 
matter (July 22, 1992, p. ----); directing the Committee on Standards of 
Official Conduct to investigate violations of confidentiality by staff 
engaged in the investigation of that matter (July 22, 1992, p. ----); 
directing the Committee on House Administration to release transcripts 
of the proceedings of its task force to investigate that matter, where 
the investigation was ordered as a question of privilege and its results 
had been ordered reported to the House (July 22, 1992, p. ----; July 23, 
1992, p. ----); directing the Committee on House Administration to 
redress the inaccurate naming of a Member in minority views accompanying 
a report on that matter (July 23, 1992, p. ----); directing the public 
release of official papers of the House relating to an investigation by 
the Committee on House Administration's Task Force to investigate the 
operation and management of the Office of the Postmaster (July 22, 1993, 
p. ----); directing the public release of transcripts and other relevant 
documents relating to an investigation by the Committee on House 
Administration's Task Force to investigate the operation and management 
of the Office of the Postmaster unless two designees of the bipartisan 
leadership agree to the contrary (June 9, 1994, p. ----); and directing 
the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to defer any 
investigation relating to the operation of the former Post Office until 
assured that its inquiry would not interfere with an ongoing criminal 
investigation, as well as a resolution directing the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct to proceed with the investigation (Mar. 2, 
1994, p. ----).
  In the 102d and 103d Congresses, a large number of resolutions 
relating to the operation of the ``bank'' in the Office of the Sergeant-
at-Arms and the management of the Office of the Postmaster were 
presented as questions of the privileges of the House. The former 
category included resolutions: terminating all bank and check-cashing 
operations in the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms and directing the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to review GAO audits of such 
operations (Oct. 3, 1991, p. ----); instructing the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct to disclose the names and pertinent 
account information of Members and former Members found to have abused 
the privileges of the ``bank'' in the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms 
(Mar. 12, 1992, p. ----); instructing the Committee on Standards of 
Official Conduct to disclose further account information respecting 
Members and former Members having checks held by that entity (Mar. 12, 
1992, p. ----); mandating full and accurate disclosure of pertinent 
information concerning the operation of that entity (Mar. 12, 1992, p. 
----); responding to a subpoena for records of that entity (Apr. 29, 
1992, p. ----); responding to a contemporaneous ``request'' for such 
records from a Special Counsel (Apr. 29, 1992, p. ----); and authorizing 
an officer of the House to release certain documents in response to 
another such request from 


[[Page 358]]
ing the appointment of a select committee to inquire into alleged fire 
safety deficiencies in the environs of the House (May 10, 1988, p. 
10286).
  The privileges of the House include questions relating to the comfort 
and convenience of Members and employees (III, 2629-2636), such as 
resolutions concerning the proper attire for Members in the Chamber when 
the temperature is uncomfortably warm (July 17, 1979, p. 19008); as well 
as questions relating to safety, such as resolutions requiring an 
investigation into the safety of Members in view of alleged structural 
deficiencies in the West Front of the Capitol (July 25, 1980, pp. 19762-
64); and direct


[[Page 359]]
a printed transcript of joint subcommittee hearings contained 
unauthorized alterations of the statements of subcommittee members in 
the prior Congress and that unauthorized alterations may have occurred 
in other committee hearing transcripts, and proposing the creation of a 
select committee to investigate and requiring the select committee to 
report back not later than a date certain (June 29, 1983, p. 18279); a 
resolution alleging that the Chair had improperly ordered the 
interruption of audio broadcast coverage of certain House proceedings 
(Mar. 17, 1988, p. 4180); a resolution requesting the Senate to return a 
House-passed bill and accompanying papers to the House if an error has 
been made by the Clerk in preparing the message to the Senate (Oct. 1, 
1982, p. 27172); a resolution seeking a determination whether there had 
been an unreasonable delay in transmitting an enrolled bill to the 
President (Oct. 8, 1991, p. ----); and a concurrent resolution directing 
the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate to produce 
official duplicates of certain legislative papers (Oct. 5, 1992, p. ----
).
  The privileges of the House include questions relating to the 
integrity of its proceedings, including the processes by which bills are 
considered (III, 2597-2601, 2614; IV, 3383, 3388, 3478), such as the 
constitutional question of the vote required to pass a joint resolution 
extending the State ratification period of a proposed Constitutional 
Amendment (Speaker O'Neill, Aug. 15, 1978, pp. 26203-04); a resolution 
responding to a court challenge to the prerogatives of the House to 
establish a chaplain and asserting the Constitutional doctrine of 
separation of powers (where a United States Court of Appeals had 
determined that the Constitution did not prohibit judicial determination 
whether establishment of the Chaplain violated the establishment clause 
of the First amendment to the Constitution) (Mar. 30, 1982, p. 5890); 
the resignation of a Member from a select or standing committee (Speaker 
Albert, June 16, 1975, p. 19054; Speaker O'Neill, Mar. 8, 1977, pp. 
6579-82); admission to the floor of the House (III, 2624-2626); the 
accuracy and propriety of reports in the Congressional Record (V, 7005-
7023; VIII, 3163, 3461, 3463, 3464, 3491, 3499; Apr. 20, 1936, p. 5704; 
May 11, 1936, p. 7019; May 7, 1979, pp. 10099-10100), including a 
resolution asserting that a Member's remarks spoken in debate were 
omitted from the printed Record, directing that the Record be corrected 
and requiring the Clerk to report on the circumstances and possible 
corrective action (July 29, 1983, p. 21685), and resolutions directing 
the Committee on Rules to investigate and report to the House within a 
time certain on alleged alterations of the Congressional Record (Jan. 
24, 1984, p. 250), and whether the Record should constitute a verbatim 
transcript (May 8, 1985, p. 11072; Feb. 7, 1990, p. 1515); the conduct 
of representatives of the press (II, 1630, 1631; III, 2627; VI, 553); 
newspaper charges affecting the honor and dignity of the House (VII, 
911); the protection of papers in its files, especially when demanded by 
the courts and the protection of its constitutional prerogatives when 
directly questioned in the courts (III, 2604, 2660-2664; VI, 587; 
Sec. 291, supra), including a resolution furnishing certain requested 
information to an Independent Counsel investigating covert arms 
transactions with Iran (June 4, 1992, p. ----), and including a 
resolution responding to a request of a law enforcement official 
regarding the timing of the public release of official papers of the 
House (July 22, 1993, p. ----); the integrity of its Journal (II, 1363; 
III, 2620); the protection of its records (III, 2659; Sept. 18, 1992, p. 
----), including directions to a committee to investigate press 
publication of a report that the House had ordered not to be released 
(Speaker Albert, Feb. 19, 1976, p. 3914), and including directions for 
the public release of transcripts and other relevant documents relating 
to an investigation by the Committee on House Administration's Task 
Force to investigate the operation and management of the Office of the 
Postmaster unless two designees of the bipartisan leadership agree to 
the contrary (June 9, 1994, p. ----); the accuracy of its documents (V, 
7329) and messages (III, 2613); a resolution asserting that 

  While a motion to correct the Congressional Record based on improper 
alterations or insertions may be raised as a question of privilege, mere 
typographical errors or ordinary revisions of a Member's remarks do not 
form the basis for privileged motions to correct the Record (Apr. 25, 
1985, p. 9419; see Sec. 927, infra).


  The privileges of the House also include questions relating to the 
impact on the safety, dignity and integrity of House proceedings, and on 
the comfort and convenience of Members, of an experiment for the 
telecasting and broadcasting of House proceedings (Speaker O'Neill, Mar. 
15, 1977, pp. 7607-08); and a resolution authorizing and directing the 
Speaker to provide for the audio and visual broadcast coverage of the 
chamber while Members are voting, since clause 9 of rule I requires 
complete and unedited audio and visual coverage of House proceedings but 
coverage of rollcall votes had not been implemented (Apr. 30, 1985, p. 
9821).


[[Page 360]]
been drawn between charges made by one Member against another in a 
newspaper or in a press release (July 28, 1970, p. 26002) or in a ``Dear 
Colleague'' letter (Aug. 4, 1989, p. 19139), and the same when made on 
the floor (III, 1827, 2961, 2717). Charges made in newspapers against 
Members in their representative capacities involve privilege (III, 1832, 
2694, 2696-2699, 2703, 2704; VI, 576, 621; VIII, 2479), even though the 
names of individual Members be not given (III, 1831, 2705, 2709; VI, 
616, 617). Speaker Wright utilized a question of personal privilege to 
respond to a ``statement of alleged violations'' pending in the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct; and, pending the Committee's 
disposition of his motion to dismiss, announced his intention to resign 
as Speaker and as a Member (May 31, 1989, p. 10440). But vague charges 
in newspaper articles (III, 2711; VI, 570), criticisms (III, 2712-2714; 
VIII, 2465), or even misrepresentations of the Member's speeches or acts 
or responses in an interview (III, 2707, 2708; Aug. 3, 1990, p. ----), 
have not been entertained. While a question of personal privilege may 
not ordinarily be based merely on words spoken in debate (July 23, 1987, 
p. 20861; Mar. 16, 1988, p. 4085; Nov. 16, 1989, p. ----), a Member may 
raise a question of personal privilege based upon press accounts of 
another Member's remarks, in debate or off the floor, which impugned his 
character or motives (May 15, 1984, pp. 12207 and 12211; May 31, 1984, 
p. 14620), or based upon newspaper accounts of televised press coverage 
of a committee hearing at which he was criticized derogatorily (Mar. 3, 
1988, p. 3196). While questions of personal privilege normally involve 
matters touching on a Member's reputation, a Member may be recognized 
for a question of personal privilege based on a violation of his rights 
as a Member, such as unauthorized printed alterations in his statements 
made during a subcommittee hearing in a prior Congress (since the second 
phrase of this clause speaks to the ``rights, reputation, and conduct of 
Members, individually'') (June 28, 1983, p. 17674). A printed 
characterization by an Officer of the House of a Member's proposed 
amendments as ``dilatory and frivolous'' may give rise to a question of 
personal privilege (Aug. 1, 1985, p. 22542) as may the fraudulent use of 
a Member's official stationery as a ``dear colleague'' letter (Sept. 17, 
1986, p. 23605). While a Member may be recognized on a question of 
personal privilege to complain about an abuse of House rules as applied 
to debate in which he was properly participating, he may not raise a 
question of personal privilege merely to complain that microphones had 
been turned off during disorderly conduct following expiration of his 
recognition for debate (Mar. 16, 1988, p. 4085).



Sec. 663. Privilege of the Member.

  The  privilege of the 
Member rests primarily on the Constitution, which gives to him a 
conditional immunity from arrest (Sec. 90) and an unconditional freedom 
of debate in the House (III, 2670, Sec. 92, supra). A menace to the 
personal safety of Members from an insecure ceiling in the Hall was held 
to involve a question of the highest privilege (III, 2685); and an 
assault on a Member within the Capitol when the House was not in 
session, from a cause not connected with the Member's representative 
capacity, was also held to involve a question of privilege (II, 1624). 
But there has been doubt as to the right of the House to interfere for 
the protection of Members, who outside the Hall, get into difficulties 
not connected with their official duties (II, 1277; III, 2678; 
footnote). Charges against the conduct of a Member are held to involve 
privilege when they relate to his representative capacity (III, 1828-
1830, 2716; VI, 604, 612; VIII, 2479); but when they relate to conduct 
at a time before he became a Member they have not been entertained as of 
privilege (II, 1287; III, 2691, 2723, 2725). A distinction has 



[[Page 361]]
necessary to give certain important matters a precedence by rule, and 
such matters are called ``privileged questions.'' But as they relate 
merely to the order of business under the rules, they are to be 
distinguished from ``questions of privilege'' which relate to the safety 
or efficiency of the House itself as an organ for action (III, 2718). It 
is evident, therefore, that a question of privilege takes precedence 
over a matter merely privileged under the rules (III, 2526-2530; V, 
6454; VIII, 3465). Certain matters of business, arising under provisions 
of the Constitution mandatory in nature, have been held to have a 
privilege which superseded the rules establishing the order of business, 
as bills providing for census or apportionment (I, 305-308), bills 
returned with the objections of the President (IV, 3530-3536), 
propositions of impeachment (III, 2045-2048, 2051, 2398; July 22, 1986, 
p. 17294), and questions incidental thereto (III, 2401, 2418; V, 7261; 
July 22, 1986, p. 17306; Dec. 2, 1987, p. 33720; Jan. 3, 1989, p. 84; 
Feb. 7, 1989, p. 1726), matters relating to the count of the electoral 
vote (III, 2573-2578), resolutions relating to adjournment and recess of 
Congress (V, 6698, 6701-6706), and a resolution declaring the office of 
Speaker vacant (VI, 35); but under later decisions certain of these 
matters which have no other basis in the Constitution or in the rules 
for privileged status, such as bills relating to census and 
apportionment, have been held not to present questions of privilege, and 
the effect of such decisions is to require all questions of privilege to 
come within the specific provisions of this rule (VI, 48; VII, 889; Apr. 
8, 1926, p. 7147). The ordinary rights and functions of the House under 
the Constitution are exercised in accordance with the rules without 
precedence as matters of privilege (III, 2567) but an extraordinary 
question relating to the House vote required by the Constitution to pass 
a joint resolution extending the ratification period of a proposed 
Constitutional amendment was raised as a question of privilege where the 
House had not otherwise made a separate determination on that procedural 
question and where consideration of the joint resolution had been made 
in order (Speaker O'Neill, Aug. 15, 1978, pp. 26203-04).


Sec. 664. General principles as to precedence of questions 
of privilege.

  The  clause of the rule giving questions of privilege 
precedence of all other questions except a motion to adjourn is a 
recognition of a principle always well understood in the House, for it 
is an axiom of the parliamentary law that such a question ``supersedes 
the consideration of the original question, and must be first disposed 
of'' (III, 2522, 2523; VI, 595). As the business of the House began to 
increase it was found 



[[Page 362]]
the order of precedence of motions) (Speaker Wright, Aug. 3, 1988, p. 
20281). A resolution collaterally challenging the validity or fairness 
of an adopted rule of the House by delaying its implementation was held 
not to give rise to a question of the privileges of the House (Speaker 
Foley, sustained by tabling of appeal, Feb. 3, 1993, p. ----).
  A motion to amend the rules of the House does not present a question 
of privilege [Speaker Cannon sustained by the House by a vote of 235 to 
53, thereby overruling the decision of March 19, 1910 (VIII, 3376), 
which held such motion privileged (VIII, 3377)], and a question of the 
privileges of the House may not be invoked to effect a change in the 
rules of the House or their interpretation (Speaker O'Neill, Dec. 6, 
1977, pp. 38470-73; Sept. 9, 1988, p. 23298; July 30, 1992, p. ----), 
including directions to the Speaker infringing upon his discretionary 
power of recognition under clause 2 of rule XIV (July 25, 1980, pp. 
19762-64), for example, by requiring that he give priority in 
recognition to any Member seeking to call up a matter highly privileged 
pursuant to a statutory provision, over a member from the Committee on 
Rules seeking to call up a privileged report from that Committee 
(Speaker Wright, Mar. 11, 1987, p. 5403), or by requiring that he state 
the question on overriding a veto before recognizing for a motion to 
refer (thereby overruling prior decisions of the Chair to change 


[[Page 363]]
nal standards of accounting but alleging no deviation from duly 
constituted procedure was held not to give rise to a question of the 
privileges of the House (Speaker Foley, sustained by tabling of appeal, 
May 20, 1992, p. ----).

  A resolution that presents a proper question of the privileges of the 
House (alteration of subcommittee hearing transcripts) may propose the 
creation of a select investigatory committee with subpoena authority to 
report back to the House by a date certain (June 29, 1983, p. 18104), 
but may not appropriate funds for the investigating committee from the 
contingent fund (VI, 395). A resolution directing that the party ratios 
of all standing committees, subcommittees, and staffs thereof be changed 
within a time certain to reflect overall party ratios in the House was 
held to constitute a change in the rules of the House and not to 
constitute a proper question of the privileges of the House (the 
standing rules already providing mechanisms for selecting committee 
members and staff) (Jan. 23, 1984, p. 78). Although the rules of the 
House establish a procedure for fixing the ratio of majority to minority 
members on full committees, and also provide that subcommittees are 
subject to the direction and control of the full committee (clause 1(b) 
of rule XI), where it is alleged that subcommittee ratios should reflect 
full committee ratios established by the House, based upon denial of 
representational rights at the subcommittee level, a question of the 
privileges of the House is raised (Oct. 4, 1984, p. 30042). A 
legislative proposition presented as a question of constitutional 
privilege under the provisions of the 14th amendment was held not to 
involve a question of privilege (VI, 48). A Member may not by raising a 
question of the privileges of the House under rule IX thereby attach 
privilege to a question (directing the Committee on Rules to consider 
reporting a special order) not otherwise in order under the rules of the 
House (Speaker Albert, June 27, 1974, p. 21596; July 31, 1975, p. 
26250). A resolution alleging that a recitation of the pledge of 
allegiance at the start of each legislative day would enhance the 
dignity and integrity of the proceedings of the House and directing that 
the Speaker implement such a recitation as the practice of the House was 
held to propose a rules change and therefore not to give rise to a 
question of the privileges of the House (Sept. 9, 1988, p. 23298). 
Alleged improprieties in committee procedures, including charges of 
committee inaction (III, 2610), secret committee conferences (VI, 578), 
refusal to make staff study available to certain Members and to the 
public (Feb. 14, 1939, p. 1370), refusal to give hearings or allow 
petitions to be read (III, 2607), refusal to permit committee member to 
take photostatic copies of committee files (Aug. 14, 1957, p. 14739), 
and a determination whether a committee violated House rules by voting 
to take allegedly defamatory testimony in open session (June 30, 1958, 
pp. 12690-91), were all held not to give rise to a question of the 
privileges of the House. A resolution directing that the reprogramming 
process established in law for Legislative Branch appropriations be 
subjected to third-party review for conformity with exter


[[Page 364]]
standing rules of the House relating to the order of business (Speaker 
O'Neill, July 10, 1985, p. 18394; Feb. 6, 1989, pp. 1676-82).



Sec. 665. Precedence of questions of privilege as related to 
pending business.

  A  question of privilege which relates to a breach of 
privilege (an assault) occurring during the reading of the Journal may 
interrupt its reading (II, 1630). A question of privilege may interrupt 
the reading of the Journal (II, 1630; VI, 637), the consideration of a 
bill under a special order (III, 2524, 2525), a rule providing for a 
vote ``without intervening motion'' (VI, 560), a proposition to suspend 
the rules (III, 2553; VI, 553, 565), the consideration of certain 
matters on which the previous question has been ordered (III, 2532; VI, 
561; VIII, 2688), business in order on Calendar Wednesday (VI, 394; VII, 
908-910), reports from the Rules Committee before debate has begun 
(VIII, 3491; Mar. 11, 1987, p. 5403), call of the Consent Calendar on 
Monday (VI, 553), before that Calendar was repealed in the 104th 
Congress (H. Res. 168, June 20, 1995, p. ----), and motions to resolve 
into Committee of the Whole (VI, 554; VIII, 3461). A question of the 
privileges of the House takes precedence over unfinished business, 
privileged under clauses 1 and 3 of rule XXIV (Speaker Albert, June 4, 
1975, p. 16860). Since a resolution raising a question of the privileges 
of the House takes precedence over a motion to suspend the rules, it may 
be offered and voted on between motions to suspend the rules on which 
the Speaker has postponed record votes until after debate on all 
suspensions (May 17, 1983, p. 12486). While a question of privilege is 
pending a message of the President is received (V, 6640-6642), but is 
read only by unanimous consent (V, 6639). A motion to reconsider may 
also be entered but may not be considered (V, 5673-5676). It has been 
held that only one question of privilege may be pending at a time (III, 
2533), but having presented one question of privilege, a Member, before 
discussing it, may submit a second question of privilege related to the 
first and discuss both on one recognition (VI, 562). In general one 
question of privilege may not take precedence over another (III, 2534, 
2552, 2581), and the Chair's power of recognition determines which of 
two matters of equal privilege is considered first (July 24, 1990, p. --
--). While a resolution raising a question of the privileges of the 
House has precedence over all other questions, it is nevertheless 
subject to disposition by the ordinary motions permitted under clause 4 
of rule XVI, and by the motion to refer under clause 1 of rule XVII 
(Speaker Albert, Feb. 19, 1976, p. 3914; Apr. 28, 1983, p. 10423; Mar. 
22, 1990, p. 4996). While under rule IX a question of the privileges of 
the House takes precedence over all other questions except the motion to 
adjourn, the Speaker may, pursuant to his power of recognition under 
clause 2 of rule XIV, entertain unanimous consent requests for ``one-
minute speeches'' pending recognition for a question of privilege, since 
such unanimous consent requests, if granted, temporarily waive the 





Sec. 666. Precedence of questions of personal 
privilege.

  When  a Member proposes merely to address the House on a question 
of personal privilege, and does not bring up a resolution affecting the 
dignity or integrity of the House for action, the practice as to 
precedence is somewhat different. Thus, a Member rising to a question of 
personal privilege may not interrupt a call of the yeas and nays (V, 
6051, 6052, 6058, 6059; VI, 554, 564), or take from the floor another 
Member who has been recognized for debate (V, 5002; VIII, 2459, 2528; 
Sept. 29, 1983, p. 26508; July 23, 1987, p. 20861), but he may interrupt 
the ordinary legislative business (III, 2531). A Member may address the 
House on a question of personal privilege even after the previous 
question has been ordered on a pending bill (VI, 561; VIII, 2688). Under 
modern practice, a question of personal privilege may not be raised in 
Committee of the Whole (Sept. 4, 1969, p. 24372; Dec. 13, 1973, p. 
41270), the proper remedy being that a demand that words uttered in the 
Committee of the Whole be taken down pursuant to clause 5 of rule XIV; 
yet a breach of privilege occurring in Committee of the Whole relates to 
the dignity of the House and is so treated (II, 1657). A question of 
personal privilege may not be raised while a question of the privileges 
of the House is pending (Apr. 30, 1985, p. 9808; May 1, 1985, p. 10003).



<>   Whenever it is 
asserted on the floor that the privileges of the House are invaded, the 
Speaker entertains the question (II, 1501), and may then refuse 
recognition
if the resolution is not admissible as a question of privilege under the 
rule. Although the early custom was for the Speaker to submit to the 
House the question whether a resolution involved the privileges of the 
House (III, 2718), the modern practice is for the Speaker to rule 
directly on the question (VI, 604; Speaker Wright, Mar. 11, 1987, p. 
5404; Feb. 3, 1995, p. ----; Feb. 7, 1995, p. ----), subject to appeal 
where appropriate (Speaker Albert, June 27, 1974, p. 21596). Under the 
form of the rule adopted in the 103d Congress, the Speaker does not rule 
on the privileged status of a resolution at the time that resolution is 
noticed, but only when the resolution is called up within two 
legislative days (Feb. 11, 1994, p. ----; Sept. 13, 1994, p. ----; Feb. 
3, 1995, p. ----). Common fame has been held sufficient basis for 
raising a question (III, 2538, 2701); a telegraphic dispatch may also 
furnish a basis (III, 2539). A report relating to the contemptuous 
conduct of a witness before a committee gives rise to a question of the 
privileges of the House and may, under this rule, be considered on the 
same day reported notwithstanding the requirement of clause 2(l)(6) of 
rule XI that reports from committees be available to Members for at 
least 

[[Page 365]]
3 calendar days prior to their consideration (Speaker Albert, July 13, 
1971, pp. 24720-23). But a Member may not, as matter of right, require 
the reading of a book or paper on suggesting that it contains matter 
infringing on the privileges of the House (V, 5258). In presenting a 
question of personal privilege the Member is not required in the first 
instance to offer a motion or resolution, but he must take this 
preliminary step in raising a question of general privileges (III, 2546, 
2547; VI, 565-569; VII, 3464). A proposition of privilege may lose its 
precedence by association with a matter not of privilege (III, 2551; V, 
5890; VI, 395). Debate on a question of privilege is under the hour rule 
(V, 4990; VIII, 2448), but the previous question may be moved (II, 1256; 
V, 5459, 5460; VIII, 2672). Consideration of a resolution as a question 
of the privileges of the House has included an hour of debate on a 
motion to refer under clause 4 of rule XVI; a separate hour of debate on 
the resolution, itself, under clause 2 of rule XIV; and a motion to 
commit (not debatable after the ordering of the previous question) under 
clause 1 of rule XVII (Mar. 12, 1992, p. ----). Debate on a letter of 
resignation is controlled by the Member moving the acceptance of the 
resignation (Mar. 8, 1977, pp. 6579-82) if the resigning Member does not 
seek recognition (June 16, 1975, p. 19054). Debate on a question of 
personal privilege must be confined to the statements or issues which 
gave rise to the question of privilege (V, 5075-77; VI, 576, 608; VIII, 
2448, 2481; May 31, 1984, p. 14623).




[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 365-450]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-94]

 


Sec. 667. Questions of privilege in the absence of a 
quorum.

  During  a call of the House in the absence of a quorum, only such 
questions of privilege as relate immediately to those proceedings may be 
presented (III, 2545). See also Sec. 771a, infra.



                                 Rule X.


         ESTABLISHMENT AND JURISDICTION OF STANDING COMMITTEES.


                  The Committees and Their Jurisdiction



[[Page 366]]



Sec. 669. Number and jurisdiction of standing 
committees.

  1.  There shall be in the House the following standing 
committees, each of which shall have the jurisdiction and related 
functions assigned to it by this clause and clauses 2, 3, and 4; and all 
bills, resolutions, and other matters relating to subjects within the 
jurisdiction of any standing committee as listed in this clause shall 
(in accordance with and subject to clause 5) be referred to such 
committees, as follows:


  Under the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), the 
44 committees of the 79th Congress were consolidated into 19, effective 
January 2, 1947. The total number of standing committees grew over time 
with the creation of the Committee on Science and Astronautics (now the 
Committee on Science), established on July 21, 1958 (p. 14513); the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, established on April 13, 
1967 (p. 9425); the Committee on the Budget, established on July 12, 
1974, by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 297); and the 
Committee on Small Business, established as a standing committee 
effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 
34470). The Committee on Internal Security was abolished in the 94th 
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20) thereby setting the total 
number of standing committees at 22.

  The 104th Congress reduced the total number to 19 by abolishing the 
Committees on the District of Columbia, Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 
and Post Office and Civil Service (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, 
p. ----). Matters formerly in the jurisdiction of the Committees on the 
District of Columbia and Post Office and Civil Service were transferred 
to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight (formerly Government 
Operations); and matters formerly in the jurisdiction of the Committee 
on Merchant Marine and Fisheries were transferred to the Committees on 
Resources (formerly Natural Resources), Transportation and 
Infrastructure (formerly Public Works and Transportation), National 
Security (formerly Armed Services), and Science (formerly Science, 
Space, and Technology (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

  A Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence was established on July 
14, 1977, and is now carried in rule XLVIII. A permanent Select 
Committee on Aging was added to clause 6 of this rule effective January 
3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470) until stricken 
in the 103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----).

  Although earlier forms of the rule specified the number of Members 
comprising each of the standing committees, those specifications were 
eliminated in the 93d Congress, leaving to the House the authority to 
establish the sizes of committees by the numbers elected to each 
standing committee pursuant to clause 6(a)(1) of rule X. The rules still 
specify part of the composition of the Committee on the Budget (clause 
1(d)(1) of rule X) as well as the overall size and preferred composition 
of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (clause 1(a) of rule 
XLVIII).


[[Page 367]]
the erroneous reference was made (clause 4 of rule XXII), must be made 
immediately following the reading of the Journal (VII, 1809, 2119, 
2120), must apply to a single bill and not to a class of bills (VII, 
2125), must apply to a bill erroneously referred (VII, 2125), may be 
amended (VII, 2127), may not be divided (VII, 2125); and may not be 
debated (VII, 2126, 2128), but are not in order on Calendar Wednesday 
(VII, 2117), and are not privileged if the original reference was not 
erroneous (VII, 2125). The re-referral of most bills is accomplished by 
unanimous consent (see Procedure, ch. 17, sec. 17-38).
  The rule is mandatory on the Speaker in referring public bills and on 
Members in referring private bills and petitions under rule XXII, but 
when the House itself refers a bill it may send it to any committee 
without regard to the rules of jurisdiction (IV, 4375; V, 5527; VII, 
2131) and jurisdiction is thereby conferred (IV, 4362-4364; VII, 2105). 
Motions for change of reference of public bills and resolutions must be 
authorized either by the committee claiming jurisdiction (clause 4 of 
rule XXII; VII, 2121; Feb. 13, 1918, p. 2070; Jan. 10, 1941, p. 100) or 
by report of the committee to which 

  Prior to the 94th Congress, a bill could not be divided among two or 
more committees, even though it might contain matters properly within 
the jurisdiction of several committees (IV, 4372). The Committee Reform 
Amendments of 1974 added clause 5 of rule X, permitting the Speaker to 
refer any matter to more than one committee (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., 
Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). Clause 5 was amended in the 104th Congress to 
require the Speaker to designate a primary committee among those to 
which a matter is initially referred (sec. 205, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, 
p. ----).

  A committee having jurisdiction of a subject by means of a petition 
(IV, 3365) properly referred (IV, 4361) can report on the subject 
thereof. It has generally been held that a committee may not report a 
bill whereof the subject matter has not been referred to it by the House 
(IV, 4355-4360, 4372; VII, 1029, 2101, 2102). Where a House bill is 
returned from the Senate with a substitute amendment relating to a new 
and different subject, the reference could nevertheless be to the 
committee having jurisdiction of the original bill (IV, 4373, 4374); 
normally, however such amended measures are held at the Speaker's table 
until disposed of by the House. The erroneous reference of a public bill 
under this rule, if it remain uncorrected, gives jurisdiction (IV, 4365-
4371; VII, 2108), but such is not the case with a private bill or 
petition (IV, 3364, 4382-4389) unless the reference be made by action of 
the House itself (IV, 4390, 4391; VII 2131). A point of order as to the 
reference of a private bill is good when the bill comes up for 
consideration, either in the House or in Committee of the Whole (IV, 
4382-4389; VII, 2116, 2132; VIII, 2262) or at any time prior to passage 
(VII, 2116). The reference of a bill to a committee involving the same 
subject matter as a bill previously reported confers jurisdiction anew 
upon the committee to consider and report the bill subsequently 
introduced (VIII, 2311).



[[Page 368]]

  Clause 2 of rule XXII prohibits the reception or consideration of 
certain private bills relating to claims, pensions, construction of 
bridges, correction of military or naval records, etc. The clause was 
expanded in the 104th Congress to prohibit introduction or consideration 
of any bill or resolution expressing a commemoration by designation of a 
specified period of time (sec. 216, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

  (a) Committee on Agriculture.



Sec. 670. Agriculture.

      (1)  Adulteration of seeds, insect 
pests, and protection of birds and animals in forest reserves.


      (2) Agriculture generally.

      (3) Agricultural and industrial chemistry.

      (4) Agricultural colleges and experiment stations.

      (5) Agricultural economics and research.

      (6) Agricultural education extension services.

      (7) Agricultural production and marketing and stabilization of 
prices of agricultural products, and commodities (not including 
distribution outside of the United States).

      (8) Animal industry and diseases of animals.

      (9) Commodities exchanges.

      (10) Crop insurance and soil conservation.

      (11) Dairy industry.

      (12) Entomology and plant quarantine.

      (13) Extension of farm credit and farm security.

      (14) Inspection of livestock, and poultry, and meat products, and 
seafood and seafood products.

      (15) Forestry in general, and forest reserves other than those 
created from the public domain.

      (16) Human nutrition and home economics.

      (17) Plant industry, soils, and agricultural engineering.

      (18) Rural electrification.

      (19) Rural development. 

[[Page 369]]

    


      (20) Water conservation related to activities of the Department of 
Agriculture.

  This Committee was established in 1820 (IV, 4149). In 1880 the subject 
of forestry was added to its jurisdiction, and the Committee was 
conferred authority to receive estimates of and to report appropriations 
(IV, 4149). However, on July 1, 1920, authority to report appropriations 
for the Department of Agriculture was transferred to the Committee on 
Appropriations (VII, 1860).

  The basic form of the present jurisdictional statement was made 
effective January 2, 1947, as a part of the Legislative Reorganization 
Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812). Subparagraph (7) was altered by the 93d 
Congress, effective January 3, 1975, to include jurisdiction over 
agricultural commodities (including the Commodity Credit Corporation) 
while transferring jurisdiction over foreign distribution and 
nondomestic production of commodities to the Committee on International 
Relations (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). 
Nevertheless, the Committee has retained a limited jurisdiction over 
measures to release CCC stocks for such foreign distribution (Sept. 14, 
1989, p. 20428). Previously unstated jurisdictions over commodities 
exchanges and rural development were codified effective January 3, 1975.

  The 104th Congress consolidated the Committee's jurisdiction over 
inspection of livestock and meat products to include inspection of 
poultry, seafood, and seafood products, and added subparagraph (20) 
relating to water conservation (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. 
----).

  The Committee has had jurisdiction of bills for establishing and 
regulating the Department of Agriculture (IV, 4150), for inspection of 
livestock and meat products, regulation of animal industry, diseases of 
animals (IV, 4154; VII, 1862), adulteration of seeds, insect pests, 
protection of birds and animals in forest reserves (IV, 4157; VII, 
1870), the improvement of the breed of horses, even with the cavalry 
service in view (IV, 4158; VII, 1865).

  The Committee, having charge of the general subject of forestry, has 
reported bills relating to timber, and forest reserves other than those 
created from the public domain (IV, 4160). It has also exercised 
jurisdiction of bills relating to agricultural colleges and experiment 
stations (IV, 4152), incorporation of agricultural societies (IV, 4159), 
establishment of a highway commission (IV, 4153), to discourage 
fictitious and gambling transactions in farm products (IV, 4161; VII, 
1861), and to regulate the transportation, sale and handling of dogs and 
cats intended for use in research and the licensing of animal research 
facilities (July 29, 1965, p. 18691).


[[Page 370]]
and tax on cotton and grain futures (65th Cong.). But this jurisdiction 
of revenue matters is exceptional (IV, 4155).
  The Committee has, by direct action of the House, secured jurisdiction 
of bills imposing an internal-revenue tax on oleomargarine (IV, 4156), 
and has also had a general, but not exclusive jurisdiction of bills 
relating to imitation dairy products, manufacture of lard, etc. (IV, 
4156; VII, 1869), 

  The House referred the President's message dealing with the 
refinancing of farm-mortgage indebtedness to the Committee, thus 
conferring jurisdiction (Apr. 4, 1933, p. 1209).


  The Committee has exclusive jurisdiction over a bill relating solely 
to executive level positions in the Department of Agriculture (Mar. 2, 
1976, p. 4958) and has jurisdiction over bills to develop land and water 
conservation programs on private and non-Federal lands (June 7, 1976, p. 
16768).

  (b) Committee on Appropriations.



Sec. 671a. Appropriations.

    (1)    Appropriation of the 
revenue for the support of the Government.


      (2) Rescissions of appropriations contained in appropriation Acts.

      (3) Transfers of unexpended balances.


The committee shall include separate headings for ``Rescissions'' and 
``Transfers of Unexpended Balances'' in any bill or resolution as 
reported from the committee under its jurisdiction specified in 
subparagraph (2) or (3), with all proposed rescissions and proposed 
transfers listed therein; and shall include a separate section with 
respect to such rescissions or transfers in the accompanying committee 
report. In addition to its jurisdiction under the preceding provisions 
of this paragraph, the committee shall have the fiscal oversight 
function provided for in clause 2(b)(3) 

[[Page 371]]
and the budget hearing function provided for in clause 4(a).

      (4) The amount of new spending authority (as described in the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974) which is to be effective for a fiscal 
year, including bills and resolutions (reported by other committees) 
which provide new spending authority and are referred to the committee 
under clause 4(a).

  This Committee was established in 1865, when all the general 
appropriation bills were confided to its care. In 1885 a portion of the 
bills were distributed to other committees. On July 1, 1920, the 
Committee again was given jurisdiction over all appropriations by an 
amendment to the rules adopted June 1, 1920 (VII, 1741).



Sec. 671b. Responsibilities under Budget Act.

  Effective  July 
12, 1974, special Presidential messages on rescissions and deferrals of 
budget authority submitted pursuant to sections 1012 and 1013 of the 
Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 683-4), as well as rescission 
bills and impoundment resolutions defined in section 1011 (2 U.S.C. 682) 
and required in section 1017 (2 U.S.C. 688) to be referred to the 
``appropriate'' committee, are referred to the Committee on 
Appropriations if the proposed rescissions or deferrals involve funds 
already appropriated or obligated. Also effective July 12, 1974, the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (sec. 404(a); 88 Stat. 320) gave the 
Committee jurisdiction later perfected by the Committee Reform 
Amendments of 1974 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), 
over rescissions of appropriations (subpara. (2)), transfers of 
unexpended balances (subpara. (3)), and the amount of new spending 
authority to be effective for a fiscal year including measures reported 
by other committees which exceed the appropriate allocation of new 
budget authority contained in the most recently agreed to concurrent 
resolution on the budget for such fiscal year as provided in clause 
4(a)(2) of rule X (subpara. (4)).


  In the 95th Congress this paragraph was amended to correct a 
typographical error (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, p. 53).

  While this Committee has authority to report appropriations, the power 
to report legislation relating thereto belongs to other committees (IV, 
4033; clause 2 of rule XXI), and a general appropriation bill reported 
from this Committee may not contain items of appropriation not 
authorized by law or provisions amending existing law (except 
retrenchments and rescissions of appropriations) (clause 2 of rule XXI), 
and may not contain reappropriations of unexpended balances except 
within agencies (clause 6 of rule XXI). General appropriation bills may 
not be considered in the House until reports and hearings have been 
available for three days (clause 7 of rule XXI), and other reports from 
the Committee likewise may not be considered until available for the 
time prescribed in clause 2(l)(6) of rule XI.


[[Page 372]]
Committee in clause 2(b)(3) of rule X, effective January 3, 1975 (H. 
Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). The Committee is also 
authorized and directed to hold hearings on the budget as a whole in 
open session within 30 days of its submission (clause 4(a)(1)(A) of rule 
X), and to study on a continuing basis provisions of law providing 
spending authority or permanent budget authority and to report to the 
House recommendations for terminating or modifying such provisions 
(clause 4(a)(3) of rule X). The requirement of section 139 of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812) that the 
Committees on Appropriations of the House and Senate develop a standard 
appropriation classification schedule was superseded by section 202(a) 
of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1167), which now 
imposes that responsibility upon the Secretary of the Treasury and the 
Office of Management and Budget. The further requirement of section 139 
of the 1946 Act that the Appropriations Committees study existing 
permanent appropriations and recommend which, if any, should be 
discontinued was made the responsibility of all standing committees of 
the House by clauses 4(f)(1) and (2) of rule XI, through enactment of 
section 253 of the 1970 Act (84 Stat. 1175).

  The authority to conduct studies and examinations of the organization 
and operation of executive departments and agencies was first given to 
this Committee on February 11, 1943 (p. 884); continued by resolution of 
January 9, 1945 (p. 135); and incorporated into permanent law in section 
202(b) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812). 
This authority was first made part of the standing rules on January 3, 
1953 (pp. 17, 24), and is now listed as a general oversight 
responsibility of the 

  (c) Committee on Banking and Financial Services.



Sec. 672. Banking and Financial Services.

      (1)  Banks and 
banking, including deposit insurance and Federal monetary policy.


      (2) Bank capital markets activities generally.

      (3) Depository institution securities activities generally, 
including the activities of any affiliates, except for functional 
regulation under applicable securities laws not involving safety and 
soundness.

      (4) Economic stabilization, defense production, renegotiation, and 
control of the price of commodities, rents, and services.

      (5) Financial aid to commerce and industry (other than 
transportation).

      (6) International finance.

      (7) International financial and monetary organizations. 

[[Page 373]]

    

      (8) Money and credit, including currency and the issuance of notes 
and redemption thereof; gold and silver, including the coinage thereof; 
valuation and revaluation of the dollar.

      (9) Public and private housing.


      (10) Urban development.

  This Committee was established in 1865 as the Committee on Banking and 
Currency (IV, 4082). In the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, 
effective January 3, 1975, its name was changed to Banking, Currency and 
Housing (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). In the 95th 
Congress its name was changed to Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70). In the 104th Congress its name was 
changed to Banking and Financial Services (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 
4, 1995, p. ----).


[[Page 374]]
Committee on Commerce, and jurisdiction over urban mass transportation 
to what is now the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (H. 
Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). In the 104th Congress 
subparagraphs (2) and (3) were added (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 
1995, p. ----).
  The Committee was given much of its present jurisdiction in the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), by which it 
absorbed the jurisdiction of the former Committee on Coinage, Weights, 
and Measures (created in 1864; IV, 4090), except jurisdiction over 
matters relating to the standardization of weights and measures and the 
metric system was given to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign 
Commerce and was later transferred to the Committee on Science and 
Astronautics (now Science) in the 85th Congress (H. Res. 580, July 21, 
1958, p. 14513). In the 92d Congress jurisdiction over the impact on the 
economy of tax-exempt foundations and charitable trusts was transferred 
from the Subcommittee on Foundations of the Select Committee on Small 
Business, along with all that subcommittee's files, to this Committee 
(H. Res. 320, Apr. 27, 1971, p. 12081). Prior to the end of the 93d 
Congress, the Committee had legislative jurisdiction over the problems 
of small business under its general jurisdiction over financial aid to 
commerce and industry; but with the adoption of the Committee Reform 
Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975, that jurisdiction was 
transferred to the standing Committee on Small Business, the permanent 
Select Committee on Small Business was abolished, and this Committee was 
specifically given jurisdiction over Federal monetary policy, money and 
credit, urban development, economic stabilization, defense production, 
and renegotiation (the latter matter formerly within the jurisdiction of 
the Committee on Ways and Means), international finance, and 
International Financial and Monetary organizations (formerly within the 
jurisdiction of the Committee on International Relations), while 
jurisdiction over the Commodity Credit Corporation was transferred to 
the Committee on Agriculture, jurisdiction over export controls and 
international economic policy to the Committee on International 
Relations, jurisdiction over construction of nursing home facilities to 
what is now the 


  The Committee has reported on subjects relating to the strengthening 
of public credit, issues of notes and taxation and redemption thereof 
(IV, 4084), propositions to maintain the parity of the money of the 
United States (IV, 4089; VII, 1792), the issue of silver certificates as 
currency (IV, 4087, 4088), national banks and current deposits of public 
money (IV, 4083; VII, 1790), the incorporation of an international bank 
(IV, 4086), subjects relating to the Freedman's Bank (IV, 4085), and 
Federal Reserve system, farm loan act, home loan bills, stabilization of 
the dollar, War Finance Corporation, Federal Reserve Bank buildings 
(VII, 1793, 1795). The Committee has jurisdiction of bills providing 
consolidation of grant-in-aid programs for urban development (Mar. 18, 
1970, p. 7887), bills providing for U.S. participation in the 
International Development Association (Mar. 9, 1960, p. 5046), bills to 
authorize GSA to acquire land in D.C. for transfer to the International 
Monetary Fund (May 1, 1962, p. 7428), bills relating to flood insurance 
(Dec. 4, 1975, p. 38701), and over an executive communication proposing 
regulations for college housing programs (notwithstanding that the 
requirement for such regulations was contained in higher education 
legislation reported from the Committee on Education and Labor) (June 
15, 1982, p. 13638).

  (d)(1) Committee on the Budget, consisting of the following Members:



Sec. 673a. Budget, Composition of.

       (A) Members who are 
members of other standing committees, including five Members who are 
members of the Committee on Appropriations, and five Members who are 
members of the Committee on Ways and Means;


      (B) one Member from the leadership of the majority party; and


No Member other than a representative from the leadership of a party may 
serve as a member of the Committee on the Budget during more 

[[Page 375]]
than four Congresses in any period of six successive Congresses 
(disregarding for this purpose any service performed as a member of such 
committee for less than a full session in any Congress), except that an 
incumbent chairman or ranking minority member having served on the 
committee for four Congresses and having served as chairman or ranking 
minority member of the committee for not more than one Congress shall be 
eligible for reelection to the committee as chairman or ranking minority 
member for one additional Congress.

      (C) one Member from the leadership of the minority party.



Sec. 673b. Jurisdiction and duties.

      (2)  All concurrent 
resolutions on the budget (as defined in section 3 of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974), other matters required to be referred to the 
committee under titles III and IV of that Act, and other measures 
setting forth appropriate levels of budget totals for the United States 
Government.


      (3) Measures relating to the congressional budget process, 
generally.

      (4) Measures relating to the establishment, extension, and 
enforcement of special controls over the Federal budget, including the 
budgetary treatment of off-budget Federal agencies and measures 
providing exemption from reduction under any order issued under part C 
of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

      (5) The committee shall have the duty-- 

[[Page 376]]

    

          (A) to report the matters required to be reported by it under 
titles III and IV of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974;

          (B) to make continuing studies of the effect on budget outlays 
of relevant existing and proposed legislation and to report the results 
of such studies to the House on a recurring basis;

          (C) to request and evaluate continuing studies of tax 
expenditures; to devise methods of coordinating tax expenditures, 
policies, and programs with direct budget outlays, and to report the 
results of such studies to the House on a recurring basis; and


          (D) to review, on a continuing basis, the conduct by the 
Congressional Budget Office of its functions and duties.

  This Committee was established in the 93d Congress, effective July 12, 
1974, by section 101 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 
299). The separate subpoena authority conferred upon the Committee by 
section 101(b) of that Act has been superseded by the general grant of 
subpoena authority to all committees in clause 2(m) of rule XI (H. Res. 
988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). In addition to the duties 
contained in clause 1(d)(5), the Committee is also charged with the 
special oversight function of studying the effect of budget outlays on 
existing and proposed legislation, and of studying tax policies and 
coordinating them with budget outlays, and reporting to the House 
thereon (clause 3(b) of rule X); as well as the additional function set 
forth in clause 4(b) of rule X of studying programs exempt from 
inclusion in the budget and recommending termination or modification of 
such programs.


[[Page 377]]

  In the 94th Congress the membership of the Committee was increased to 
25 (from 23), with 13 (rather than 11) members elected from committees 
other than Appropriations and Ways and Means (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, 
p. 20). The membership was increased again in the 97th Congress to 30, 
with 28 from other standing committees and two from the respective 
leaderships (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 98-113), and again in the 98th 
Congress to 31 (unanimous consent order, Feb. 7, 1983, p. 1791). The 
99th Congress amended this paragraph to remove any numerical limitation 
on the membership of the Committee (H. Res. 7, Jan. 3, 1985, p. 393). 

  This paragraph was amended in the 96th Congress to relax the 
limitation on Members' service on the Committee to three Congresses 
(from two) in any period of five successive Congresses, to exempt 
representatives from the party leaderships from the limitation, and to 
permit an incumbent chairman who had served on the Committee for three 
Congresses and as chairman for not more than one Congress to be eligible 
for reelection as chairman for one additional Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 
15, 1979, p. 8). It was again amended in the 100th Congress to eliminate 
as obsolete the words ``beginning after 1974'' following ``any period of 
five successive Congresses'' as a measure of permissible terms of 
service on the Committee (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1987, p. 6). It was further 
amended in the 101st Congress to permit, in that Congress only, a 
minority Member who had served on the Committee for three terms to run 
within his party's caucus for the position of ranking minority Member 
and thus be able to serve on the Committee for one additional Congress, 
and to permit a Member elected as ranking minority Member during his 
third term on the Committee to serve one additional term on the 
Committee should he be re-elected as the ranking minority Member (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1989, p. 72). It was again amended in the 102d Congress 
to extend the waiver of the tenure restriction for the ranking minority 
member of the Committee (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----), but in the 
103d Congress that provision was stricken as obsolete (H. Res. 5, Jan. 
5, 1993, p. ----). In the 104th Congress the limitation on a Member's 
service on the Committee was relaxed to four Congresses (from three) in 
any period of six successive Congresses, with the exception that an 
incumbent chairman or ranking minority member who has served on the 
Committee for four Congresses and in either of the specified capacities 
for not more than one Congress would be permitted to serve as chairman 
or ranking minority member for one additional Congress (sec. 202(a), H. 
Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).


[[Page 378]]
questration orders issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency 
Deficit Control Act (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

  In the 99th Congress this paragraph was again amended by section 
232(h) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, 
to confer jurisdiction over Senate joint or concurrent resolutions 
constituting congressional responses to a Presidential sequestration 
order issued pursuant to a report of the Comptroller General under 
section 252(b) of that Act (P.L. 99-177, Dec. 12, 1985). It was again 
amended by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 to conform subparagraph 
(2) to changes in the congressional budget laws (tit. XIII, P.L. 101-
508, Nov. 5, 1990). The 104th Congress amended the paragraph to expand 
the limited legislative jurisdiction of the Committee by: (1) adding 
other measures setting forth appropriate levels of budget totals to 
subparagraph (2); (2) granting the Committee jurisdiction over the 
congressional budget process generally in a new subparagraph (3); and 
(3) granting the Committee jurisdiction over special controls over the 
federal budget in a new subparagraph (4), including receiving from the 
former Committee on Government Operations (now Government Reform and 
Oversight) jurisdiction over budgetary treatment of off-budget Federal 
agencies and measures providing exemption from se

  (e) Committee on Commerce.

      (1) Biomedical research and development.



Sec. 674. Commerce.

        (2) Consumer affairs and consumer 
protection.


      (3) Health and health facilities, except health care supported by 
payroll deductions.

      (4) Interstate energy compacts.

      (5) Interstate and foreign commerce generally.

      (6) Measures relating to the exploration, production, storage, 
supply, marketing, pricing, and regulation of energy resources, 
including all fossil fuels, solar energy, and other unconventional or 
renewable energy resources.

      (7) Measures relating to the conservation of energy resources.

      (8) Measures relating to energy information generally.

      (9) Measures relating to (A) the generation and marketing of power 
(except by federally chartered or Federal regional power marketing 
authorities), (B) the reliability and interstate transmission of, and 
ratemaking for, all power, and (C) the siting of generation facilities; 
except the installation of interconnections between Government 
waterpower projects.

      (10) Measures relating to general management of the Department of 
Energy, and the management and all functions of the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission.

      (11) National energy policy generally. 

[[Page 379]]

    

      (12) Public health and quarantine.

      (13) Regulation of the domestic nuclear energy industry, including 
regulation of research and development reactors and nuclear regulatory 
research.

      (14) Regulation of interstate and foreign communications.

      (15) Securities and exchanges.


The committee shall have the same jurisdiction with respect to 
regulation of nuclear facilities and of use of nuclear energy as it has 
with respect to regulation of nonnuclear facilities and of use of 
nonnuclear energy. In addition to its legislative jurisdiction under the 
preceding provisions of this paragraph (and its general oversight 
functions under clause 2(b)(1)), such committee shall have the special 
oversight functions provided for in clause (3)(h) with respect to all 
laws, programs, and Government activities affecting nuclear and other 
energy, and nonmilitary nuclear energy and research and development 
including the disposal of nuclear waste.

      (16) Travel and tourism.

  The Committee dates from 1795 (IV, 4096). Effective January 3, 1975 
(H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), the name of the 
Committee was changed from Interstate and Foreign Commerce to Commerce 
and Health. Effective January 14, 1975, it was redesignated as 
Interstate and Foreign Commerce (H. Res. 5, 94th Cong., p. 20). In the 
96th Congress it was redesignated again as Energy and Commerce and given 
much of its present jurisdiction, effective January 3, 1981 (H. Res. 
549, Mar. 25, 1980, pp. 6405-10; note publication of inter-committee 
memoranda of understanding). In the 104th Congress it was redesignated 
again as the Committee on Commerce (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 
1995, p. ----).


[[Page 380]]
Guard, life-saving service, lighthouses, lightships, ocean derelicts, 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the Panama Canal; and to vest 
jurisdiction over those subjects in the former Committee on Merchant 
Marine and Fisheries (VII, 1814, 1847), but with the demise of the 
latter Committee in the 104th Congress, the latter subjects now reside 
in the jurisdiction of the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, except that the Committee on National Security has 
jurisdiction over the Panama Canal (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 
1995, p. ----). In the 85th Congress matters relating to the Bureau of 
Standards, standardization of weights and measures, and the metric 
system (conferred on the Committee by the Legislative Reorganization Act 
of 1946, 60 Stat. 812), were transferred to the Committee on Science and 
Astronautics (now Science) (July 21, 1958, p. 14513). In the Committee 
Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975, the Committee 
obtained specific jurisdiction over consumer affairs and consumer 
protection (subpara. (2)), travel and tourism (subpara. (16)), health 
and health facilities, except health care supported by payroll 
deductions (subpara. (3)) (a matter formerly within the jurisdiction of 
the Committee on Ways and Means), and biomedical research and 
development (subpara. (1)), and relinquished jurisdiction over civil 
aeronautics to the Committee on Public Works and Transportation (now 
Transportation and Infrastructure), jurisdiction over civil aviation 
research and development, energy and environmental research and 
development, and the National Weather Service to the Committee on 
Science and Technology (now Science), and jurisdiction over trading with 
the enemy to the Committee on Foreign Affairs (now International 
Relations) (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). In the 95th 
Congress, when the legislative jurisdiction of the Joint Committee on 
Atomic Energy in the House was transferred to various standing 
committees, this Committee was given the same jurisdiction over nuclear 
energy as it had over non-nuclear energy and facilities by the addition 
of the penultimate sentence to this paragraph (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, 
pp. 53-70). In the 96th Congress the Committee obtained specific 
jurisdiction over national energy policy generally (subpara. (11)), 
measures relating to exploration, production, storage, supply, 
marketing, pricing, and regulation of energy resources (subpara. (6)), 
measures relating to conservation of energy resources (subpara. (7)), 
measures relating to energy information generally (subpara. (8)), 
measures relating to the generation, marketing, interstate transmission 
of, and ratemaking for power as well as the siting of generation 
facilities, with certain exceptions (subpara. (9)), interstate energy 
compacts (subpara. (4)), and measures relating to general management of 
the Department of Energy and all functions of the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission (subpara. (10)) (H. Res. 549, Mar. 25, 1980, pp. 
6405-10). In the 104th Congress the Committee relinquished jurisdiction 
over inland waterways and railroads (including railroad labor, 
retirement, and unemployment) to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, and jurisdiction over measures relating to the 
commercial application of energy technology to the Committee on 

[[Page 381]]
Science, while obtaining exclusive jurisdiction over regulation of the 
domestic nuclear energy industry (subpara. (13)) from the former 
Committee on Natural Resources (now Resources) (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, 
Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
  In the 74th Congress the jurisdictional statement of the Committee was 
amended to include jurisdiction over bills relating to radio; to deprive 
the Committee jurisdiction over bills relating to water transportation, 
Coast 

  The Committee has the special oversight responsibility under clause 
3(h) of rule X as well as the general oversight responsibility required 
by clause 2(b). This special oversight responsibility was expanded in 
the 96th Congress to include all energy, effective January 3, 1981 (H. 
Res. 549, Mar. 25, 1980, pp. 6405-10). In the 104th Congress it was 
again expanded to include nonmilitary nuclear energy and research and 
development including the disposal of nuclear waste (sec. 202(a), H. 
Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----), though a conforming change in clause 
3(h) was inadvertently omitted.

  The Committee formerly reported the river and harbor appropriation 
bill, but in 1883 a Committee on Rivers and Harbors was created for that 
role (IV, 4096), and since the 66th Congress such appropriations have 
been reported by the Committee on Appropriations.

  The Committee has general jurisdiction of bills affecting domestic and 
foreign commerce, except such as may affect the revenue (IV, 4097). It 
also has jurisdiction of bills authorizing the construction of marine 
hospitals and the acquisition of sites therefor (IV, 4110; VII, 1816), 
the general subjects of quarantine and the establishment of quarantine 
stations (IV, 4109), health, spread of leprosy and other contagious 
diseases, international congress of hygiene, etc. (IV, 4111), bills 
declaring as to whether or not streams are navigable and for preventing 
or regulating hindrances to navigation (IV, 4101; VII, 1810), such as 
bridges (IV, 4099; VII, 1812) and dams, except such bridges and dams as 
are a part of river improvements (IV, 4100; VII, 1810). This Committee 
formerly had jurisdiction of bills proposing construction of bridges 
across navigable streams which are now banned (Sec. 852; see also 
General Bridge Act, 33 U.S.C. 525, 533).


[[Page 382]]
Games in Alaska (June 7, 1972, p. 19935). The Committee has exercised 
jurisdiction, with the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs 
(now Banking and Financial Services), over a bill to amend the Federal 
Reserve Act to impose reserve requirements on the assets of ``open-end 
investment companies'' that offer their depositors accounts transacted 
by negotiable instrument (Mar. 18, 1981, p. 4610), as well as over a 
Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act that 
focused on health matters rather than job training (June 1, 1981, p. 
11028, Nov. 3, 1993, p. ----). In the 94th Congress, the Committee 
gained jurisdiction over bills amending the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning 
Prevention Act and bills dealing with nursing home construction as 
public health matters (June 10, 1975, p. 18009).

  Before the 104th Congress the Committee considered bills regulating 
railroads in their interstate commerce relations (IV, 414) and exercised 
jurisdiction with the Committees on Education and Labor (now Economic 
and Educational Opportunities) and Public Works and Transportation (now 
Transportation and Infrastructure) over bills providing labor 
protections to workers in the transportation industry, including 
railroad employees (Feb. 24, 1993, p. ----). The Committee considers 
bills relating to commercial travelers as agents of interstate commerce 
and the branding of articles going into such commerce (IV, 4115), the 
prevention of the carriage of indecent and harmful pictures or 
literature (IV, 4116), the adulteration and misbranding of foods and 
drugs (IV, 4112), and protection of game through prohibition of 
interstate transportation (IV, 4117). The Committee has jurisdiction 
over bills imposing safety standards on motor vehicles purchased by the 
U.S. Government (Feb. 16, 1959, p. 2420), bills creating civil remedies 
for false advertising or other violations of commercial ethics (June 4, 
1962, p. 9601), and bills to assist financing of the Arctic Winter 

  (f) Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities.

      (1) Child labor.



Sec. 675. Economic and Educational Opportunities.

        (2) 
Columbia Institution for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind; Howard University; 
Freedmen's Hospital.


      (3) Convict labor and the entry of goods made by convicts into 
interstate commerce.

      (4) Food programs for children in schools.

      (5) Labor standards and statistics.

      (6) Measures relating to education or labor generally.

      (7) Mediation and arbitration of labor disputes.

      (8) Regulation or prevention of importation of foreign laborers 
under contract.

      (9) United States Employees' Compensation Commission.

      (10) Vocational rehabilitation.

      (11) Wages and hours of labor.

      (12) Welfare of miners.


In addition to its legislative jurisdiction under the preceding 
provisions of this paragraph (and 

[[Page 383]]
its general oversight function under clause 2(b)(1)), the committee 
shall have the special oversight function provided for in clause 3(c) 
with respect to domestic educational programs and institutions, and 
programs of student assistance, which are within the jurisdiction of 
other committees.

      (13) Work incentive programs.

  This Committee was established as the Committee on Education and Labor 
on January 2, 1947, as part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 
1946 (60 Stat. 812), combining the Committee on Education (created in 
1867, IV, 4242) and the Committee on Labor (created in 1883, IV, 4244). 
When it was redesignated as the Committee on Economic and Educational 
Opportunities in the 104th Congress, the jurisdictional statement 
remained unchanged except by the combination of labor standards and 
labor statistics in a single subparagraph (5) (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, 
Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

  By the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975, 
the Committee gained jurisdiction over food programs for children in 
schools, an expansion of earlier jurisdiction over school-lunch programs 
(subpara. (4)), work incentive programs (subpara. (13)), and Indian 
education, a matter formerly within the specific jurisdiction of the 
Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (now Resources); jurisdiction 
of the Committee over international education matters was specifically 
transferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs (now International 
Relations); and its special oversight function was inserted in clause 
3(c) of rule X (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470).

  The Columbia Institute for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind was renamed 
``Gallaudet College'' (68 Stat. 265), and Freedmen's Hospital is now a 
part of Howard University. The jurisdiction of this Committee over 
education and vocational rehabilitation does not include those subjects 
as they relate to veterans, which fall under the jurisdiction of the 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs.



[[Page 384]]

  The Committee has jurisdiction over bills dealing with juvenile 
delinquency (Jan. 22, 1959, p. 1027), runaway youth (July 12, 1973, p. 
23633; Sept. 10, 1973, p. 28970), human services programs administered 
by HEW (June 21, 1972, p. 21733), education of Indians (Apr. 15, 1975, 
p. 10247; June 10, 1991, p. ----), and compensation for work injuries to 
Federal employees (Apr. 16, 1975, p. 10339); over bills amending the 
Community Services Block Grant Act to continue anti-poverty programs 
originally authorized by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (Nov. 4, 
1993, p. ----); and over an executive communication proposing draft 
legislation to amend the Labor Management Relations Act and the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act (Mar. 24, 1983, p. 7402).

  (g) Committee on Government Reform and Oversight.



Sec. 676. Government Reform and Oversight.

      (1)  The 
Federal Civil Service, including intergovernmental personnel; the status 
of officers and employees of the United States, including their 
compensation, classification, and retirement.


      (2) Measures relating to the municipal affairs of the District of 
Columbia in general, other than appropriations.

      (3) Federal paperwork reduction.

      (4) Budget and accounting measures, generally.

      (5) Holidays and celebrations.

      (6) The overall economy, efficiency and management of government 
operations and activities, including Federal procurement.

      (7) National archives.

      (8) Population and demography generally, including the Census.

      (9) Postal service generally, including the transportation of the 
mails.

      (10) Public information and records.

      (11) Relationship of the Federal Government to the States and 
municipalities generally.


In addition to its legislative jurisdiction under the preceding 
provisions of this paragraph (and its oversight functions under clause 
2(b)(1) and (2)), the committee shall have the function of performing 
the duties and conducting the studies which are provided for in clause 
4(c).


[[Page 385]]

      (12) Reorganizations in the executive branch of the Government.

  In the 82d Congress the name of this Committee was changed from 
Expenditures in the Executive Departments to Government Operations (July 
3, 1952, p. 9217). In the 104th Congress it was again changed to 
Government Reform and Oversight (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, 
p. ----). The former Committee on Expenditures in the Executive 
Departments was established December 5, 1927 (VII, 2041), and took the 
place of 11 separate committees on expenditures in the several executive 
departments. The first of these committees was established in 1816, and 
others were added as new departments were created (IV, 4315). They 
reported bills relating to the efficiency and integrity of the public 
service (IV, 4320), and creation and abolition of offices (IV, 4318).

  In addition to the jurisdiction vested in the Committee by the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), the Committee 
Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975, assigned the 
Committee jurisdiction over measures relating to the overall economy and 
efficiency of Government operations and activities, including Federal 
procurement, intergovernmental relationships, and general revenue 
sharing (the latter from the Committee on Ways and Means), and the 
National archives (from the former Committee on Post Office and Civil 
Service) (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). In the 104th 
Congress (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----), the Committee 
assumed the jurisdictions of the former Committee on the District of 
Columbia (subpara. (2)), and the former Committee on Post Office and 
Civil Service except that relating to the Franking Commission (subparas. 
(1), (5), (8), and (9)), while relinquishing to the Committee on the 
Budget jurisdiction over measures relating to off-budget treatment of 
agencies or programs, which had been added by the Balanced Budget and 
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-177, Dec. 12, 1985), and 
over measures relating to exemptions from executive orders sequestering 
budget authority, which had been added by the Budget Enforcement Act of 
1990 (tit. XIII, P.L. 101-508, Nov. 5, 1990). At the same time 
subparagraphs (3) and (10) were added to clarify existing jurisdiction. 
The 104th Congress also assigned the Committee its responsibilities to 
coordinate committee oversight plans under clause 2(d)(3) and to 
consider and report recommendations concerning alternatives to 
commemorative legislation (secs. 203(a) and 216(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 
1995, p. ----).


[[Page 386]]
cy by instituting a separation pay program to encourage eligible 
employees to voluntarily resign or retire (Aug. 2, 1993, p. ----).
  The Committee has exercised jurisdiction of bills establishing the 
Rural Electrification Administration as an independent agency and 
transferring certain functions thereto (Mar. 19, 1959, p. 4692), 
establishing a Commission on Population Growth (Sept. 23, 1969, p. 
26568), establishing a Cabinet Committee on Opportunities for Spanish-
Speaking Americans (Nov. 24, 1969, p. 35509), and bills providing 
payment of travel costs for Federal employment applicants (Feb. 15, 
1967, p. 3466). The Committee has exercised jurisdiction over 
countercyclical programs of revenue-sharing grants to State and local 
governments, such as that contained in Title II of the Public Works 
Employment Act of 1976 (Feb. 1, 1977, p. 3057). The Committee shares 
jurisdiction over a bill to facilitate the reorganization of an agen


  The specific subpoena authority conferred upon the Committee in the 
standing rules on February 10, 1947 (p. 942) was been superseded by the 
general conferral of subpoena authority on all committees in clause 2(m) 
of rule XI. By the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective 
January 3, 1975, the Committee was given the general function under 
clause 4(c)(1) of examining and reporting upon reports of the 
Comptroller General, evaluating laws reorganizing the legislative and 
executive branches, and studying intergovernmental relationships 
domestically and with international organizations to which the United 
States belongs (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470).

  (h) Committee on House Oversight.



Sec. 677a. House Oversight.

      (1)  Appropriations from 
accounts for committee salaries and expenses (except for the Committee 
on Appropriations), House Information Systems, and allowances and 
expenses of Members, House officers and administrative offices of the 
House.


      (2) Auditing and settling of all accounts described in 
subparagraph (1).

      (3) Employment of persons by the House, including clerks for 
Members and committees, and reporters of debates.

      (4) Except as provided in clause 1(q)(11), matters relating to the 
Library of Congress and the House Library; statuary and pictures; 
acceptance or purchase of works of art for the Capitol; the Botanic 
Gardens; management of the Library of Congress; purchase of books and 
manuscripts.


[[Page 387]]

      (5) Except as provided in clause 1(q)(11), matters relating to the 
Smithsonian Institution and the incorporation of similar institutions. 

      (6) Expenditure of accounts described in subparagraph (1).

      (7) Franking Commission.

      (8) Matters relating to printing and correction of the 
Congressional Record.

      (9) Measures relating to accounts of the House generally.

      (10) Measures relating to assignment of office space for Members 
and committees.

      (11) Measures relating to the disposition of useless executive 
papers.

      (12) Measures relating to the election of the President, Vice 
President, or Members of Congress; corrupt practices; contested 
elections; credentials and qualifications; and Federal elections 
generally.

      (13) Measures relating to services to the House, including the 
House Restaurant, parking facilities and administration of the House 
office buildings and of the House wing of the Capitol.

      (14) Measures relating to the travel of Members of the House.

      (15) Measures relating to the raising, reporting and use of 
campaign contributions for candidates for office of Representative in 
the House of Representatives, of Delegate, and of Resident Commissioner 
to the United States from Puerto Rico.



[[Page 388]]

In addition to its legislative jurisdiction under the preceding 
provisions of this paragraph (and its general oversight function under 
clause 2(b)(1)), the committee shall have the function of performing the 
duties which are provided for in clause 4(d).

      (16) Measures relating to the compensation, retirement and other 
benefits of the Members, officers, and employees of the Congress.

  This Committee was created as the Committee on House Administration on 
January 2, 1947, as a part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 
(60 Stat. 812), combining the Committees on Accounts (created in 1803, 
IV, 4328), Enrolled Bills (created in 1789, IV, 4350), Disposition of 
Executive Papers (created in 1889, IV, 4419), Printing (created in 
1846), Elections (created in 1794 and divided into three committees in 
1895, IV, 4019), Election of President, Vice President, and 
Representatives in Congress (created in 1893, IV, 4299), and Memorials 
(created January 3, 1929, VII, 2080).


  The Committee was redesignated as the Committee on House Oversight in 
the 104th Congress, obtaining from the former Committee on Post Office 
and Civil Service jurisdiction over the Franking Commission (also known 
as the House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards) in 
subparagraph (7), while relinquishing to the Committee on Resources 
jurisdiction over erection of monuments to the memory of individuals 
(sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). References in 
subparagraphs (1) and (2) to the ``contingent fund'' were eliminated 
without changing the Committee's jurisdiction over the accounts that the 
fund comprised.



Sec. 677b. House facilities.

  The  Committee has jurisdiction 
over measures relating to the House Restaurant, which was first under 
the jurisdiction of the former Committee on Accounts, then under the 
supervision of the Architect of the Capitol (H. Res. 590, 76th Cong., 
Sept. 5, 1940, p. 11552, as made permanent law by P.L. 76-812, 40 U.S.C. 
174k), and then under the supervision of the Select Committee on the 
House Restaurant (H. Res. 472, 91st Cong., July 10, 1969, p. 19080; H. 
Res. 111, 93d Cong., Feb. 7, 1973), which was not re-established after 
the 93d Congress.




[[Page 389]]

  By the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975, 
the Committee obtained jurisdiction over parking facilities of the 
House, a matter formerly assigned to a select committee (subpara. (13)) 
(H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). In the 94th Congress 
the Committee was given jurisdiction over campaign contributions to 
candidates for the House, a matter formerly within the jurisdiction of 
the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (subpara. (15)), and over 
compensation, retirement, and other benefits of Members, officers, and 
employees of Congress (subpara. (16)) (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20). 


  The Committee has jurisdiction over resolutions authorizing committees 
to employ additional professional and clerical personnel (Feb. 7, 1966, 
p. 2373). The Committee has supervisory authority over the House barber 
shops, beauty shops, House Information Systems, and the Office of 
Placement and Management (the latter formerly within the jurisdiction of 
the former Joint Committee on Congressional Operations and of the former 
Select Committee on Congressional Operations).




Sec. 677c. Enrolled bills.

  The  Committee has absorbed the 
Committee on Enrolled Bills which was established in 1789 by a joint 
rule of the two Houses. This rule lapsed in 1876 with the other joint 
rules; but in 1880 the rules of the House were amended to recognize the 
joint committee (IV, 4350, 4416; VII, 2099). The Committee and the 
Secretary of the Senate make comparisons of bills of their respective 
Houses for enrollment, and the two cooperate in the interchange of bills 
for signature.





Sec. 677d. Library.

  Under  the Reorganization Act the 
Committee has jurisdiction of some of the subjects formerly within the 
jurisdiction of the Joint Committee on the Library, such as matters 
relating to the Library of Congress and the House Library, statuary and 
pictures, acceptance or purchase of works of art for the Capitol, the 
Botanic Gardens, management of the Library of Congress, purchase of 
books and manuscripts, matters relating to the Smithsonian Institution, 
and the incorporation of similar institutions. Excepted are measures 
relating to the construction or reconstruction, maintenance, and care of 
the buildings and grounds of the Botanic Gardens, the Library of 
Congress, and the Smithsonian Institution, which fall under the 
jurisdiction of the Committee on Transportation (now Transportation and 
Infrastructure). The House Members of the Joint Committee on the 
Library, provided for by law (2 U.S.C. 132b), are elected by resolution 
each Congress.




Sec. 677e. Congressional Record.

  The  Committee has 
jurisdiction of matters relating to printing and correction of the 
Congressional Record, formerly within the jurisdiction of the Committee 
on Printing. The House Members of the Joint Committee on Printing, 
provided for by law (44 U.S.C. 1), are elected by resolution each 
Congress.


  The Committee has jurisdiction of measures relating to the election of 
the President, Vice President, or Members of Congress; corrupt 
practices; contested elections; credentials and qualifications; Federal 
elections generally, and the Electoral count, which formerly was within 
the jurisdiction of a Committee on Election of the President, Vice 
President, and Representatives in Congress (IV, 4303).


[[Page 390]]
Inspector General (sec. 201(e), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----; see 
rules III, IV, V, and VI and Sec. 697c, infra).

  The special oversight function in clause 4(d)(1) of examining enrolled 
bills was assigned to the Committee by the Committee Reform amendments 
of 1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 
1974, p. 34470), but its former responsibility to report on Members' 
travel has been supplanted by the function of providing policy direction 
to and oversight of the Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Chief Administrative 
Officer, and 

  (i) Committee on International Relations.



Sec. 678. International Relations.

      (1)  Relations of the 
United States with foreign nations generally.


      (2) Acquisition of land and buildings for embassies and legations 
in foreign countries.

      (3) Establishment of boundary lines between the United States and 
foreign nations.

      (4) Export controls, including nonproliferation of nuclear 
technology and nuclear hardware.

      (5) Foreign loans.

      (6) International commodity agreements (other than those involving 
sugar), including all agreements for cooperation in the export of 
nuclear technology and nuclear hardware.

      (7) International conferences and congresses.

      (8) International education.

      (9) Intervention abroad and declarations of war.

      (10) Measures relating to the diplomatic service.

      (11) Measures to foster commercial intercourse with foreign 
nations and to safeguard American business interests abroad.

      (12) Measures relating to international economic policy.

      (13) Neutrality.

      (14) Protection of American citizens abroad and expatriation.

      (15) The American National Red Cross. 

[[Page 391]]

    

      (16) Trading with the enemy.


In addition to its legislative jurisdiction under the preceding 
provisions of this paragraph (and its general oversight function under 
clause 2(b)(1)), the committee shall have the special oversight 
functions provided for in clause 3(d) with respect to customs 
administration, intelligence activities relating to foreign policy, 
international financial and monetary organizations, and international 
fishing agreements.

      (17) United Nations organizations.

  This Committee was established in 1822 (IV, 4162), and from 1885 to 
1920 had authority to report appropriations. In the 94th Congress the 
name of the Committee was changed from Foreign Affairs to International 
Relations (H. Res. 163, Mar. 19, 1975, p. 7343). In the 96th Congress it 
was changed back to Foreign Affairs (H. Res. 89, Feb. 5, 1979, pp. 1848-
49). In the 104th Congress the name was again changed to International 
Relations (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

  In addition to the jurisdiction vested in the Committee by the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), the Committee 
Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975, gave the Committee 
jurisdiction over measures relating to: international economic policy 
(subpara. (12)) and export controls (subpara. (4)), matters formerly 
within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Banking and Currency (now 
Banking and Financial Services); international commodity agreements 
other than sugar (subpara. (6)), formerly within the jurisdiction of the 
Committee on Agriculture; trading with the enemy (subpara. (16)), 
formerly within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Interstate and 
Foreign Commerce (now Commerce); and international education (subpara. 
(8)); while transferring jurisdiction over international financial and 
monetary organizations to the Committee on Banking and Currency (now 
Banking and Financial Services), and jurisdiction over international 
fishing agreements to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries 
(now Resources) (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). When 
the legislative jurisdiction in the House of the Joint Committee on 
Atomic Energy was abolished in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 
1977, pp. 53-70), the Committee was given jurisdiction over 
nonproliferation of nuclear technology and hardware (subpara. (4)), and 
over international agreements on nuclear exports (subpara. (6)).


[[Page 392]]
waters (IV, 4166; see also the ``General Bridge Act,'' 33 U.S.C. 525, 
533), for the protection of American citizens abroad and expatriation 
(IV, 4169; VII, 1883), for extradition with foreign nations, for 
international arbitration, relating to violations of neutrality (IV, 
4178a), international conferences and congresses (IV, 4177; VII, 1884), 
the incorporation of the American National Red Cross and protection of 
its insignia (IV, 4173), intervention abroad and declarations of war 
(IV, 4164; VII 1880), affairs of the consular service, including 
acquisition of land and buildings for legations in foreign capitals (IV, 
4163; VII, 1879), creation of courts of the United States in foreign 
countries (IV, 4167), treaty regulations as to protection of fur seals 
(IV, 4170), matters relating to the Philippines (see 60 Stat. 315), and 
measures establishing a District of Columbia corporation to support 
private American organizations engaged in communications with foreign 
nations (June 21, 1971, p. 21062).
  It has a broad jurisdiction over foreign relations, including bills to 
establish boundary lines between the United States and foreign nations, 
to determine naval strengths, and to regulate bridges and dams on 
international 

  The Committee has also considered measures for fostering commercial 
intercourse with foreign nations and for safeguarding American business 
interests abroad (IV, 4175), and even the subjects of commercial 
treaties and reciprocal arrangements (IV, 4174), although in later 
practice the Committee on Ways and Means has considered such matters 
(IV, 4021). The Committee has exercised a general but not exclusive 
jurisdiction over legislation relating to claims having international 
relations (IV, 4168; VII, 1882). Pursuant to its jurisdiction over 
international education, the Committee (and not former Committee on 
Education and Labor) has exercised jurisdiction over bills establishing 
scholarship programs for foreign students (May 10, 1988, p. 10305). The 
Committee has jurisdiction over a communication from the President 
notifying the House, consistent with the War Powers Resolution, of the 
deployment abroad of U.S. armed forces to participate in an embargo 
against another nation (Nov. 4, 1993, p. ----).


  The special oversight function of the Committee set forth in clause 
3(d) of rule X was made effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d 
Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470).

  (j) Committee on the Judiciary.



Sec. 679a. Judiciary.

      (1)   The judiciary and judicial 
proceedings, civil and criminal.


      (2) Administrative practice and procedure.

      (3) Apportionment of Representatives.

      (4) Bankruptcy, mutiny, espionage, and counterfeiting.

      (5) Civil liberties.

      (6) Constitutional amendments.


[[Page 393]]

      (7) Federal courts and judges, and local courts in the Territories 
and possessions. 

      (8) Immigration and naturalization.

      (9) Interstate compacts, generally.

      (10) Measures relating to claims against the United States.

      (11) Meetings of Congress, attendance of Members and their 
acceptance of incompatible offices.

      (12) National penitentiaries.

      (13) Patents, the Patent Office, copyrights, and trademarks.

      (14) Presidential succession.

      (15) Protection of trade and commerce against unlawful restraints 
and monopolies.

      (16) Revision and codification of the Statutes of the United 
States.

      (17) State and territorial boundaries.




Sec. 679b. Internal Security.

      (18)   Subversive 
activities affecting the internal security of the United States.



[[Page 394]]
H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). The 104th Congress also inserted 
``the judiciary'' in subparagraph (1); added subparagraph (2) for 
clarification; combined former subparagraphs (6) and (9) in a new 
subparagraph (7); and combined former subparagraphs (13) and (14) in a 
new subparagraph (13) (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
  This Committee dates from 1813 (IV, 4054). The essential jurisdiction 
defined in the rule was made effective January 2, 1947, as a part of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), and combined the 
Committees on Revision of Laws (created 1868, IV, 4293), Patents 
(created in 1837, IV, 4254), Immigration and Naturalization (created in 
1893, IV, 4309), Claims (created in 1794, IV, 4262), and War Claims 
(created in 1883, IV, 4269). By the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, 
effective January 3, 1975, the Committee's jurisdiction over holidays 
and celebrations was transferred to the former Committee on Post Office 
and Civil Service (now under the Committee on Government Reform and 
Oversight) (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). In the 94th 
Congress the Committee on Internal Security was abolished and 
jurisdiction over communist and other subversive activities affecting 
the internal security of the United States was transferred to this 
Committee (subpara. (18)) (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20), though an 
accompanying provision for the transfer of records and staff of the 
Internal Security Committee to the Judiciary Committee was deleted as 
obsolete in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70), and 
the specific reference to communism was deleted as unnecessary in the 
104th Congress (sec. 202(a), 

  Under subparagraph (14) the Committee has jurisdiction over 
Presidential nominations to fill vacancies in the office of Vice 
President, submitted pursuant to the 25th amendment to the Constitution 
(Oct. 13, 1973, p. 34032; Aug. 20, 1974, p. 29366). The Committee has 
reported Articles of Impeachment of the President (Aug. 20, 1974, pp. 
29219-81). Where the House has voted impeachment, members of the 
Committee have been appointed as managers on the part of the House in 
presenting the charges to the Senate for trial (H. Res. 501, 99th Cong., 
July 22, 1986, p. 17306; H. Res. 511, 100th Cong., Aug. 3, 1988, p. 
20223; H. Res. 12, 101st Cong., Jan. 3, 1989, p. 84).

  The Committee on the Judiciary considers charges against judges of the 
Federal courts (IV, 4062), legislative propositions relating to the 
service of the Department of Justice (IV, 4067), bills relating to local 
courts in the District of Columbia, Alaska, and the Territories (IV, 
4068), the establishment of a court of patent appeals (IV, 4075), 
relations of labor to courts and corporations (IV, 4072), crimes, 
penalties, extradition (IV, 4069; VII, 1747), construction and 
management of national penitentiaries (IV, 4070), matters relating to 
trusts and corporations (IV, 4057, 4059, 4060; VII, 1764), claims of 
States against the United States (IV, 4080), general legislation 
relating to international and other claims (IV, 4078, 4079, 4081), 
including measures extending the terms of members of the Foreign Claims 
Settlement Commission (Nov. 14, 1991, p. ----), bills relating to the 
office of President (IV, 4077), to the flag (IV, 4055), bankruptcy (IV, 
4065), removal of political disabilities (IV, 4058), prohibition of 
traffic in intoxicating liquors (IV, 4061; VII, 1773), mutiny and 
willful destruction of vessels (IV, 4145), counterfeiting (IV, 4071; 
VII, 1753), settlement of State and Territorial boundary lines (IV, 
4060; VII, 1768), meeting of Congress and attendance of Members and 
their acceptance of incompatible offices (IV, 4077, VI, 65).

  The Committee also has jurisdiction over joint resolutions proposing 
amendments to the Constitution (IV, 4056; VII, 1779). It also reports on 
important questions of law relating to subjects naturally within the 
jurisdiction of other committees (IV, 4063).


[[Page 395]]
to consent to a modification of a certain trust on behalf of the 
Library of Congress (Aug. 17, 1959, p. 16051), amending an omnibus 
pension act to increase the amount of pension granted a certain class of 
persons (Feb. 15, 1960, p. 2523), and imposing criminal sanctions under 
the Controlled Substances Act (Nov. 14, 1983, p. 32457). The Committee 
has exclusive jurisdiction over the Legal Services Corporation (Nov. 19, 
1975, p. 37288) and over the extension of workmen's benefits to non-
Federal policemen and firemen (Dec. 12, 1975, p. 40204). The Committee 
has exercised jurisdiction, with the Committee on Education and Labor 
(now Economic and Educational Opportunities), over bills to amend the 
Walsh-Healey Act regarding hours of work under government contracts (May 
15, 1985, p. 11946). This Committee, and not the Committee on Public 
Works and Transportation (now Transportation and Infrastructure), 
exercised jurisdiction over a bill extending the authority for the 
Marshal of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court Police to protect the 
Chief Justice, Associate Justices, officers, and employees of the 
Supreme Court beyond its building and grounds (Nov. 22, 1993, p. ----).
  The Committee also has jurisdiction over bills regulating the 
authority of States to impose taxes on interstate commerce (June 18, 
1959, p. 11317), imposing conflict of interest standards and civil and 
criminal penalties relating thereto on government employees (Feb. 25, 
1960, p. 3484), establishing an Academy of Criminal Justice (Apr. 5, 
1965, p. 6822), to eliminate racketeering in the interstate sale of 
cigarettes (Feb. 9, 1972, p. 3429), providing workmen's compensation for 
non-Federal firemen killed during civil disorder (May 6, 1968, p. 
11798), authorizing the Attorney General 


  The Committee has the general oversight responsibility set forth in 
clause 2(b).

  (k) Committee on National Security.



Sec. 680. National Security.

      (1)  Ammunition depots; 
forts; arsenals; Army, Navy, and Air Force reservations and 
establishments.


      (2) Common defense generally.

      (3) Conservation, development, and use of naval petroleum and oil 
shale reserves.

      (4) The Department of Defense generally, including the Departments 
of the Army, Navy, and Air Force generally.

      (5) Interoceanic canals generally, including measures relating to 
the maintenance, operation, and administration of interoceanic canals.

      (6) Merchant Marine Academy, and State Maritime Academies.

      (7) Military applications of nuclear energy. 

[[Page 396]]

    

      (8) Tactical intelligence and intelligence related activities of 
the Department of the Defense.

      (9) National security aspects of merchant marine, including 
financial assistance for the construction and operation of vessels, the 
maintenance of the U.S. shipbuilding and ship repair industrial base, 
cabotage, cargo preference and merchant marine officers and seamen as 
these matters relate to the national security.

      (10) Pay, promotion, retirement, and other benefits and privileges 
of members of the armed forces.

      (11) Scientific research and development in support of the armed 
services.

      (12) Selective service.

      (13) Size and composition of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air 
Force.

      (14) Soldiers' and sailors' homes.


In addition to its legislative jurisdiction under the preceding 
provisions of this paragraph (and its general oversight function under 
clause 2(b)(1)), the committee shall have the special oversight function 
provided for in clause 3(a) with respect to international arms control 
and disarmament, and military dependents education.

      (15) Strategic and critical materials necessary for the common 
defense.


[[Page 397]]
appropriations from 1885 to 1920 (IV, 4179, 4189; VII, 1741). The 
Committee was redesignated the Committee on National Security in the 
104th Congress (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
  This Committee was established January 2, 1947, as a part of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), combining the 
Committee on Military Affairs with the Committee on Naval Affairs, both 
of which had been created in 1822 (IV, 4179, 4189) and had had 
jurisdiction over 

  Much of the present legislative jurisdiction in this paragraph was 
adopted on January 3, 1953 (p. 17), to reflect jurisdiction over the 
Department of Defense, which was created in the National Security Act of 
1947 (61 Stat. 495). In the 95th Congress, when the Joint Committee on 
Atomic Energy was abolished, this Committee gained jurisdiction over 
military applications of nuclear energy (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, p. --
--). The special oversight function of the Committee in clause 3(a) and 
the general oversight function in clause 2(b)(1) were assigned by the 
Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 
988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). The 104th Congress added 
subparagraph (8) for clarification and subparagraphs (5), (6), and (9) 
to reflect the transfer of those matters from the former Committee on 
Merchant Marine and Fisheries (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. 
----).

  The Committee has jurisdiction over bills relating to military housing 
construction (Apr. 18, 1967, p. 9981; Feb. 21, 1962, p. 2684), amending 
title 10 of the United States Code to permit suits against the United 
States for damage to reputation of members of Armed Forces acquitted of 
charges of crimes against civilians in combat zones (July 15, 1970, p. 
24451), for construction of facilities at Walter Reed Medical Center 
(Oct. 3, 1966, p. 24859), to require military commissary, post exchange 
and medical care privileges for veterans with sufficient service-
connected disabilities (Feb. 3, 1976, p. 1972), over private bills 
conferring the Congressional Medal of Honor on individuals (Feb. 22, 
1982, p. 1812), and over a bill, or provision thereof, authorizing 
appropriations to the Department of Energy for resource applications for 
naval petroleum and oil shale reserves (May 1, 1978, p. 11946).


  The Committee exercised jurisdiction with the Committee on Interior 
and Insular Affairs (now Resources) over a resolution expressing the 
sense of Congress regarding continued operation of the Hanford Nuclear 
Reactor to produce power for the Bonneville Power Administration (July 
17, 1986, p. 16888).

  (l) Committee on Resources.



Sec. 681. Resources.

      (1)  Fisheries and wildlife, 
including research, restoration, refuges, and conservation.



[[Page 398]]

      (2) Forest reserves and national parks created from the public 
domain. 

      (3) Forfeiture of land grants and alien ownership, including alien 
ownership of mineral lands.

      (4) Geological Survey.

      (5) International fishing agreements.

      (6) Interstate compacts relating to apportionment of waters for 
irrigation purposes.

      (7) Irrigation and reclamation, including water supply for 
reclamation projects, and easements of public lands for irrigation 
projects, and acquisition of private lands when necessary to complete 
irrigation projects.

      (8) Measures relating to the care and management of Indians, 
including the care and allotment of Indian lands and general and special 
measures relating to claims which are paid out of Indian funds.

      (9) Measures relating generally to the insular possessions of the 
United States, except those affecting the revenue and appropriations.

      (10) Military parks and battlefields, national cemeteries 
administered by the Secretary of the Interior, parks within the District 
of Columbia, and the erection of monuments to the memory of individuals.

      (11) Mineral land laws and claims and entries thereunder.

      (12) Mineral resources of the public lands.

      (13) Mining interests generally.

      (14) Mining schools and experimental stations. 

[[Page 399]]

    

      (15) Marine affairs (including coastal zone management), except 
for measures relating to oil and other pollution of navigable waters.

      (16) Oceanography.

      (17) Petroleum conservation on the public lands and conservation 
of the radium supply in the United States.

      (18) Preservation of prehistoric ruins and objects of interest on 
the public domain.

      (19) Public lands generally, including entry, easements, and 
grazing thereon.

      (20) Relations of the United States with the Indians and the 
Indian tribes.


In addition to its legislative jurisdiction under the preceding 
provisions of this paragraph (and its general oversight function under 
clause 2(b)(1)), the committee shall have the special oversight 
functions provided for in clause 3(e) with respect to all programs 
affecting Indians.

      (21) Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline (except ratemaking).

  The Committee on Public Lands was created in 1805 (IV, 4194). Its name 
has since been changed to Interior and Insular Affairs (Feb. 2, 1951, p. 
883); to Natural Resources (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----); and to 
Resources (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).


[[Page 400]]
risdiction over cemeteries of the United States in which veterans may 
be buried, except those administered by the Secretary of the Interior, 
was transferred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs in the 90th 
Congress (H. Res. 241, Oct. 20, 1967).
  The core of the jurisdiction reflected in this paragraph was assigned 
to the Committee effective January 2, 1947, as a part of the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), which consolidated in this 
Committee the jurisdictions of the former Committees on Mines and Mining 
(created in 1865, IV, 4223), Insular Affairs (created in 1899, IV, 
4213), Irrigation and Reclamation (created in 1893, IV, 4307), Indian 
Affairs (created in 1821, IV, 4204), and Territories (created in 1825, 
IV, 4208), though vesting the subject of welfare of men working in 
mines, formerly under the jurisdiction of a Committee on Mines and 
Mining, in the Committee on Education and Labor (now Economic and 
Educational Opportunities). Until the Reorganization Act, military 
parks, battlefields, and national cemeteries were under jurisdiction of 
a Committee on Military Affairs. Ju

  In Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975, the 
Committee gained jurisdiction over parks within the District of 
Columbia, formerly within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Public 
Works and Transportation, now Transportation and Infrastructure 
(subpara. (10)), and lost specific jurisdiction over Indian education 
and over Hawaii and Alaska, generally (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 
1974, p. 34470). By that same resolution, the Committee was given 
special oversight functions in clause 3(e).

  The 104th Congress expanded the jurisdiction of the Committee by: 
adding subparagraphs (1), (5), (15), and (16) to reflect the transfer of 
those matters from the former Committee on Merchant Marine and 
Fisheries; inserting the subject of monuments in memory of individuals 
in subparagraph (10) to reflect the transfer of that matter from the 
Committee on House Administration (now House Oversight); adding 
subparagraph (21), an exceptional treatment of pipeline jurisdiction 
otherwise vested in the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; 
and deleting the subject of regulation of the domestic nuclear energy 
industry to reflect the transfer of that jurisdiction, which this 
Committee had acquired when the 95th Congress abolished the Joint 
Committee on Atomic Energy (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70) and 
which it shared with the Committee on Commerce, to the Committee on 
Commerce (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). At the same 
time, the statements of special oversight functions in this paragraph 
and in paragraph (e) of this clause were adjusted to reflect the 
transfer of nonmilitary nuclear energy and research and development 
including disposal of nuclear waste from this Committee to the Committee 
on Commerce, though conforming changes in paragraphs (e) and (h) of 
clause 3 were inadvertently omitted.


[[Page 401]]
to lands along the Colorado River forming state boundaries (June 28, 
1967, p. 17738); bills designating national forest lands created from 
the public domain as wilderness (May 6, 1969, p. 11459); bills including 
additional units in the Missouri River Basin project (Sept. 8, 1959, p. 
18587); bills establishing a commission on development of Pennsylvania 
Avenue in D.C. as a national historic site (Oct. 21, 1965, p. 27803); 
bills authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility 
investigation of potential water resource development (May 1, 1975, p. 
12764); bills to establish a commission to consider the creation of a 
(Hudson) River Compact (July 21, 1975, p. 23653); bills to name a 
building constructed as part of a federal recreation area (June 8, 1988, 
p. 13803); bills addressing the siting on Federal parkland of an 
established national memorial (Sept. 24, 1991, p. ----); and (with the 
Committee on Agriculture) bills exchanging a Federal tree nursery for 
certain State mining patents touching a western forest (Sept. 17, 1991, 
p. ----).
  The Committee reports on subjects relating to the mineral resources of 
the public lands (IV, 4202), forfeiture of land grants and alien 
ownership (IV, 4201), public lands of Alaska (IV, 4196), forest reserves 
(IV, 4197), and national parks created out of the public domain (IV, 
4199; VII, 1925), including measures relating to criminal trespass 
provisions applying only within national forests created from the public 
domain (July 18, 1977, p. 23434); to admission of States (IV, 4208); to 
preservation of prehistoric ruins and objects of interest on the public 
domain (IV, 4199); and sometimes to projects of general legislation 
relating to various classes of land claims (IV, 4203). The Committee 
also has jurisdiction over bills relating to proceeds from disposal of 
oil shale on public lands (other than Naval Oil Shale Reserves) (Aug. 3, 
1967, p. 21179); bills to exclude certain lands in the outer continental 
shelf from mineral leasing provisions of the Outer Continental Shelf 
Lands Act (May 16, 1963, p. 8777); bills reinstating a U.S. oil and gas 
lease (Aug. 5, 1959, p. 15190); bills addressing U.S. claims 


  The authority of the Committee to report as privileged bills for the 
forfeiture of land grants to railroad and other corporations, bills 
preventing speculation in the public lands, bills for the preservation 
of the public lands for the benefit of actual and bona fide settlers, 
and bills for the admission of new States was eliminated in the 
Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 
988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470; see clause 4(a) of rule XI).

  (m) Committee on Rules.



Sec. 682a. Rules.

      (1)  The rules and joint rules (other 
than rules or joint rules relating to the Code of Official Conduct), and 
order of business of the House.



The Committee on Rules is authorized to sit and act whether or not the 
House is in session.

      (2) Recesses and final adjournments of Congress.


[[Page 402]]
the 94th through the 98th Congresses 16 members were named to the 
Committee on nominations from the respective party caucuses (see, e.g., 
H. Res. 76, Jan. 20, 1975, p. 803; H. Res. 101, Jan. 28, 1975, p. 1611), 
and in the 99th through 101st Congresses, 13 members were named to the 
Committee on nominations from the respective party caucuses (see, e.g., 
H. Res. 34, 35, Jan. 30, 1985, p. 1271, 1273).
  This Committee, which had existed as a select committee from 1789, 
became a standing committee in 1880 (IV, 4321; VII, 2047). The Speaker 
was first made a member of the Committee in 1858 (IV, 4321), and ceased 
to be a member on March 19, 1910 (VII, 2047). However, the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946 deleted from the former rule the prohibition 
against the Speaker serving on the Committee. The size of the Committee 
was increased from 12 to 15 members for the 87th Congress (Jan. 31, 
1961, p. 1589), and the increase in the Committee's size was 
incorporated as a part of the rules in the 88th Congress (Jan. 9, 1963). 
Effective January 3, 1975, however, the rules were amended to eliminate 
prescriptions of committee sizes (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, 
p. 34470), and in 

  The jurisdiction defined in this paragraph became effective January 2, 
1947, as a part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 
812). The last sentence, formerly designated as subparagraph (3) (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----), is from section 134(c) of the 1946 Act, 
but the Committee has had authority to sit during sessions of the House 
since 1893 (IV, 4546), even during the five-minute rule under clause 
2(i) of rule XI. The subject of recesses and adjournments was formerly 
under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means. In section 
402(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-344, July 12, 
1974), the Committee was given specific authority to report emergency 
waivers of the required reporting date for bills and resolutions 
authorizing new budget authority. That authority was incorporated into 
this rule, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 
1974, p. 34470), but was repealed as obsolete in the 102d Congress (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). Jurisdiction over rules relating to 
official conduct and financial disclosure was transferred to the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct on April 3, 1968 (H. Res. 
1099, 90th Cong.), but in the 95th Congress, jurisdiction over rules 
relating to financial disclosure by Members, officers, and employees of 
the House was returned to this Committee (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 
53-70).


  The jurisdiction of this Committee is primarily over propositions to 
make or change the rules (V, 6770, 6776; VII, 2047), for the creation of 
committees (IV, 4322; VII, 2048), and directing them to make 
investigations (IV, 4322-4324; VII, 2048). Effective January 3, 1975, 
however, the authority for all committees to conduct investigations and 
studies was made a part of the standing rules (clause 1(b) of rule XI), 
as was the authority for all committees to sit and act whether the House 
is in session or has adjourned, and authority to issue subpoenas (clause 
2(m) of rule XI) (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). The 
Committee also reports resolutions relating to the hour of daily meeting 
and the days on which the House shall sit (IV, 4325), and orders 
relating to the use of the galleries during the electoral count (IV, 
4327).



Sec. 682b. Special orders.

  Since  1883 the Committee on Rules 
has reported special orders providing times and methods for 
consideration of special bills or classes of bills, thereby enabling the 
House by majority vote to forward particular legislation, instead of 
being forced to use for the purpose the motion to suspend the rules, 
which requires a two-thirds vote (IV, 3152; V, 6870; for forms of, IV, 
3238-3263).



[[Page 403]]
by motion in the House, to provide that a subject be made a special 
order by a motion to postpone to a day certain (IV, 3164). But before 
the adoption of rules, and consequently before there is a rule as to the 
order of business, a Member may offer a special order for immediate 
consideration (V, 4971, 5450). A special order reported by the Committee 
on Rules must be agreed to by a majority vote of the House (IV, 3169).
  Special orders may still be made by suspension of the rules (IV, 3154) 
or by unanimous consent (IV, 3165, 3166; VII, 758); but it is not in 
order, 

  It is not in order to move to postpone a special order providing for 
the consideration of a class of bills (V, 4958), but a bill which comes 
before the House by the terms of a special order merely assigning the 
day for its consideration may be postponed by a majority vote (IV, 3177-
3182). A motion to rescind a special order is not privileged under the 
rules regulating the order of business (IV, 3173, 3174; V, 5323).

  A motion to amend the rules of House does not present a question of 
privilege (VIII, 3377, overruling VIII, 3376; see also rule IX and 
Sec. 664, supra), and it is not in order by raising a question of the 
privileges of the House under rule IX to move to direct the Committee on 
Rules to consider a request to report a special order of business 
(Speaker Albert, June 27, 1974, p. 21599), or to direct the Committee on 
Rules to meet, to elect a temporary chairman (in the temporary absence 
of the chairman) and consider special orders of business (Speaker 
Albert, July 31, 1975, p. 26250).


  For further discussion of the Committee on Rules, see Secs. 729a-
731, infra.

  (n) Committee on Science.



Sec. 683. Science.

      (1)  All energy research, development, 
and demonstration, and projects therefor, and all federally owned or 
operated nonmilitary energy laboratories.


      (2) Astronautical research and development, including resources, 
personnel, equipment, and facilities.

      (3) Civil aviation research and development.

      (4) Environmental research and development.

      (5) Marine research.

      (6) Measures relating to the commercial application of energy 
technology.


[[Page 404]]

      (7) National Institute of Standards and Technology, 
standardization of weights and measures and the metric system. 

      (8) National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

      (9) National Space Council.

      (10) National Science Foundation.

      (11) National Weather Service.

      (12) Outer space, including exploration and control thereof.

      (13) Science Scholarships.


In addition to its legislative jurisdiction under the preceding 
provisions of this paragraph (and its general oversight function under 
clause 2(b)(1)), the committee shall have the special oversight function 
provided for in clause 3(f) with respect to all nonmilitary research and 
development.

      (14) Scientific research, development, and demonstration, and 
projects therefor.


[[Page 405]]
10). In the 100th Congress, the Committee was redesignated as the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1987, p. 
6). In the 103d Congress the jurisdictional statement of the Committee 
was updated to reflect the renaming of Executive Branch entities (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----). The 104th Congress again renamed the 
Committee as the Committee on Science and expanded its jurisdiction by 
adding subparagraph (5), from the former Committee on Merchant Marine 
and Fisheries, and subparagraph (6), from the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce (now Commerce) (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
  The standing Committee on Science and Astronautics was established in 
the 85th Congress and given jurisdiction formerly vested in a Select 
Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration established a few months 
earlier (Mar. 5, 1958, p. 3443), as well as the former jurisdiction of 
the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (now Commerce) over the 
Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology) and science scholarships (July 21, 1958, p. 14513). By the 
Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975, the 
Committee was redesignated as the Committee on Science and Technology 
and given additional jurisdiction over civil aviation research and 
development, environmental research and development, non-nuclear energy 
research and development, and the National Weather Service (now part of 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) (H. Res. 988, 93d 
Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). At the same time the Committee was given 
the general and special oversight functions set forth in clause 2(b) and 
clause 3(f). When the House abolished the Joint Committee on Atomic 
Energy in the 95th Congress, this Committee was given jurisdiction over 
nuclear research and development, as well (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 
53-70). Its jurisdiction over energy research and development (now 
subpara. (1)) was amended in the 96th Congress, effective January 3, 
1981, to specifically include energy demonstration projects and 
federally owned nonmilitary energy laboratories (H. Res. 549, Mar. 25, 
1980, pp. 6405-


  The Committee has jurisdiction over proposals dealing with U.S. 
participation in the World Science Pan-Pacific Exposition (June 24, 
1959, p. 11810); over a resolution condemning Soviet Union internal 
exile of an individual, and recommending that government agencies 
including NASA, the National Bureau of Standards and the National 
Science Foundation defer official travel to that country (Jan. 30, 1980, 
p. 1320); with the Committees on Armed Services (now National Security) 
and Interior and Insular Affairs (now Resources), over bills to test the 
commercial viability of oil shale technologies within the naval oil 
shale reserves or on other public lands (Sept. 26, 1978, p. 31623); and 
with four other committees over a bill coordinating Federal agencies' 
research into ground water contamination, including that done by the 
Environmental Protection Agency (Mar. 15, 1989, p. 4163).

  (o) Committee on Small Business.



Sec. 684. Small Business.

      (1)  Assistance to and 
protection of small business, including financial aid, regulatory 
flexibility and paperwork reduction.



In addition to its legislative jurisdiction under the preceding 
provisions of this paragraph (and its general oversight function under 
clause 2(b)(1)), the committee shall have the special oversight function 
provided for in clause 3(g) with respect to the problems of small 
business.

      (2) Participation of small-business enterprises in Federal 
procurement and Government contracts.


[[Page 406]]

  A Select Committee on Small Business was first established in the 77th 
Congress (H. Res. 294, pp. 9418-28) and was reconstituted each Congress 
thereafter by resolution reported from the Committee on Rules until made 
permanent in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). 

  The Committee Reform Amendments of 1974 established a standing 
Committee on Small Business, effective January 3, 1975, and vested it 
with legislative jurisdiction formerly held by the Committee on Banking 
and Currency (subpara. (1)) and the Committee on the Judiciary (subpara. 
(2)) (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). At the same time 
the general and special oversight functions were set forth in clause 
2(b) and in clause 3(g).


  The 104th Congress expanded the jurisdiction of the Committee over 
assistance to and protection of small business by inserting the 
references to regulatory flexibility and paperwork reduction in 
subparagraph (1) (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----; see 
also Feb. 9, 1995, p. ----).

  (p) Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.


In addition to its legislative jurisdiction under the preceding 
provision of this paragraph (and its general oversight function under 
clause 2(b)(1)), the committee shall have the functions with respect to 
recommendations, studies, investigations, and reports which are provided 
for in clause 4(e), and the functions designated in titles I and V of 
the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and sections 7342, 7351, and 7353 
of title 5, United States Code.



Sec. 685. Standards of Official Conduct.

      (1)  Measures 
relating to the Code of Official Conduct.



[[Page 407]]
duct,'' as follows: rule XLV, prohibiting unofficial office accounts; 
rule XLVI, limiting the use of the frank; and rule XLVII, limiting 
outside earned income (H. Res. 287, Mar. 2, 1977, pp. 5933-53).
  The Committee was established in the 90th Congress (H. Res. 418, Apr. 
13, 1967). Its jurisdiction was redefined the next year (H. Res. 1099, 
Apr. 3, 1968). In the 94th Congress legislative jurisdiction over 
measures relating to the raising, reporting, and use of campaign 
contributions for candidates for the House was transferred from this 
Committee to the Committee on House Administration (now House Oversight) 
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975). In the 91st Congress the Committee had been 
given jurisdiction over measures relating to lobbying activities (H. 
Res. 1031, July 8, 1970, p. 23141), but in the 95th Congress 
jurisdiction over that subject and over measures relating to financial 
disclosure by Members, officers, and employees of the House were removed 
from the Committee, thereby devolving on the Committee on Rules (H. Res. 
5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70). Also in the 95th Congress, several rules 
relating to the official conduct of Members were adopted outside the 
confines of rule XLIII, the ``Code of Official Con

  Under clause 4(a) of rule XI, the Committee is empowered to report as 
privileged resolutions recommending action by the House of 
Representatives with respect to the official conduct of an individual 
Member, officer, or employee of the House.

  In addition to its legislative jurisdiction, the Committee has the 
general oversight responsibility set forth in clause 2(b) and the 
additional functions of conducting the investigations and making the 
reports and recommendations required by clause 4(e) or by resolution of 
the House (see, e.g., H. Res. 252, 95th Cong., Feb. 9, 1977, pp. 3966-
75, directing investigation of gifts from Korean government; H. Res. 
1042, 94th Cong., Feb. 16, 1976, pp. 3158-61, directing investigation of 
unauthorized publication of report of Select Committee on Intelligence; 
and H. Res. 608, 96th Cong., Mar. 27, 1980, pp. 6995-98, relating to 
``Abscam'').

  The Committee has investigated rollcall procedures in the House and 
recommended installation of a modernized voting system (June 19, 1969, 
p. 16629). In the 95th Congress the Committee was authorized by section 
515 of Public Law 95-105 to act as the ``employing agency'' for the 
House of Representatives under the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act, 
and the Committee promulgated regulations under that statute concerning 
acceptance of foreign gifts and decorations by Members and employees 
(Jan. 23, 1978, p. 452). In the 96th Congress the Committee was assigned 
as additional responsibilities the functions designated in title I of 
the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-521) relating to the 
administration of government ethics laws as they apply to Members, 
officers, and employees of the House (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, p. 7). 
In the 102d Congress those responsibilities were enlarged to include 
also the functions designated in title V of the Act and the specified 
sections of title 5, United States Code (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. --
--).



[[Page 408]]

  The Committee has compiled statutory and rule-based ethical standards 
in the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong., 2d Sess.). In the Manual, the 
Committee incorporates its advisory opinions issued under clause 
4(e)(1)(D) of rule X, together with advisory opinions issued by the 
former Select Committee on Ethics, in its discussions of various ethical 
issues, including gifts, outside income, financial disclosure, staff 
rights and duties, official allowances and franking, casework 
considerations, campaign financing and practices, and involvement with 
official and unofficial organizations.

  (q) Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.



Sec. 686. Transportation and Infrastructure.

      (1)  Coast 
Guard, including lifesaving service, lighthouses, lightships, ocean 
derelicts, and the Coast Guard Academy.


      (2) Federal management of emergencies and natural disasters.

      (3) Flood control and improvement of rivers and harbors.

      (4) Inland waterways.

      (5) Inspection of merchant marine vessels, lights and signals, 
lifesaving equipment, and fire protection on such vessels.

      (6) Navigation and the laws relating thereto, including pilotage.

      (7) Registering and licensing of vessels and small boats.

      (8) Rules and international arrangements to prevent collisions at 
sea.

      (9) Measures relating to the Capitol Building and the Senate and 
House office buildings.

      (10) Measures relating to the construction or maintenance of roads 
and post roads, other than appropriations therefor; but it shall not be 
in order for any bill providing general legislation in relation to roads 
to contain any provision for any specific road, nor for any bill in 
relation to a specific road to embrace a provision in relation to any 
other specific road.


[[Page 409]]
the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Institution.
      (11) Measures relating to the construction or reconstruction, 
maintenance, and care of the buildings and grounds of the Botanic 
Gardens, 

      (12) Measures relating to merchant marine, except for national 
security aspects of merchant marine.

      (13) Measures relating to the purchase of sites and construction 
of post offices, customhouses, Federal courthouses, and Government 
buildings within the District of Columbia.

      (14) Oil and other pollution of navigable waters, including 
inland, coastal, and ocean waters.

      (15) Marine affairs (including coastal zone management) as they 
relate to oil and other pollution of navigable waters.

      (16) Public buildings and occupied or improved grounds of the 
United States generally.

      (17) Public works for the benefit of navigation, including bridges 
and dams (other than international bridges and dams).

      (18) Related transportation regulatory agencies.

      (19) Roads and the safety thereof.

      (20) Transportation, including civil aviation, railroads, water 
transportation, transportation safety (except automobile safety), 
transportation infrastructure, transportation labor, and railroad 
retirement and unemployment (except revenue measures related thereto).


      (21) Water power.


[[Page 410]]
in 1883 (IV, 4118)), and Roads (created in 1913 (VII, 2065)). The 
authority of the Committee to report as privileged bills authorizing the 
improvement of rivers and harbors was eliminated by the Committee Reform 
Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., 
Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470; see clause 4(a) of rule XI). At the same time 
the Committee relinquished jurisdiction over parks in the District of 
Columbia to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (now 
Resources) while gaining jurisdiction over transportation, including 
civil aviation (except railroads, railroad labor, and railroad 
pensions), over roads and the safety thereof, over water transportation 
subject to the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and 
over related transportation regulatory agencies with certain exceptions. 
The 104th Congress changed the name of the Committee from Public Works 
and Transportation to Transportation and Infrastructure and expanded its 
jurisdiction by: adding subparagraphs (1), (6)-(8), (12), and (15) to 
reflect the transfer of those matters from the former Committee on 
Merchant Marine and Fisheries; adding subparagraph (4) and enlarging 
subparagraph (20) to reflect the transfer of those matters from the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce (now Commerce); and adding subparagraph 
(2) and inserting the reference to inland, coastal, and ocean waters in 
subparagraph (14), as clarifying consolidations of formerly 
fractionalized subjects (sec. 202(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
  The Committee was created effective January 2, 1947, as a part of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), combining the 
Committees on Flood Control (created in 1916 (VII, 2069)), Public 
Buildings and Grounds (created in 1837 (IV, 4231)), Rivers and Harbors 
(created 


[[Page 411]]

  The Committee has jurisdiction over proposals establishing Treasury 
revolving funds for the Southeastern and Southwestern Power 
Administrations (July 2, 1959, p. 12629); directing the Secretary of the 
Army to provide school facilities for dependents of Corps of Engineers 
construction workers (June 17, 1968, p. 17429); conveying Corps of 
Engineers flood-control project lands (July 15, 1965, p. 17002) or 
naming reservoirs within such projects (Oct. 3, 1989, p. 22770) or 
allocating or limiting water use therefrom (Feb. 28, 1990, p. 2893); 
directing the Secretary of the Army to renew the license of an American 
Legion Post to use a parcel of land on a Corps of Engineer project (May 
10, 1988, p. 10282); authorizing construction of an annex to the 
National Gallery of Art by the Smithsonian Institution (Apr. 10, 1968, 
p. 9553); addressing the location and development of the J. F. Kennedy 
Center for the Performing Arts (Sept. 15, 1965, p. 23927; Oct. 21, 1965, 
p. 27803); transferring land under the control of the Corps of Engineers 
to Indian tribes (Jan. 29, 1976, p. 1577); amending the Interstate 
Commerce Act to regulate truck transportation (Feb. 24, 1976, p. 4109; 
Mar. 1, 1979, p. 3754); concerning the treatment of a U.S. air freight 
carrier by the Japanese Ministry of Transport pursuant to an 
understanding negotiated under the International Air Transportation 
Competition Act of 1979 (not a Trade Act matter) (July 28, 1988, p. 
19536); and over an executive communication amending Public Law 90-553, 
reported by the Committee, to authorize the transfer, conveyance, lease 
and improvement of, and construction on, certain property in the 
District of Columbia, for use as a headquarters site for an 
international organization, as sites for governments of foreign 
countries (Sept. 10, 1981, p. 20598). 

  The Committee has shared jurisdiction: with the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce (now Commerce) over a bill amending the Solid Waste 
Disposal Act to provide for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites or 
discharges presenting a threat to human health and the environment, 
including navigable waters (Mar. 21, 1984, p. 6186); with the Committee 
on Government Operations (now Government Reform and Oversight) over a 
bill to require the Administrator of General Services to convey certain 
real property (a federal building) to the Museum for the American Indian 
and providing for renovation and alteration of the property (Oct. 28, 
1987, p. 29685); with the Committee on House Administration (now House 
Oversight) over a bill authorizing the Smithsonian Institution to 
construct, expand, and renovate facilities at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum 
in New York (July 21, 1987, p. 20309), and over a bill authorizing 
appropriations to plan, design, construct, and equip museum space for 
the Smithsonian (July 18, 1991, p. ----); with several other committees 
over bills to convert from a defense economy by, inter alia,  
authorizing economic assistance for public works and economic 
development (June 24, 1991, p. ----; June 11, 1992, p. ----); and with 
the Committee on Education and Labor (now Economic and Educational 
Opportunities) over bills providing labor protections to workers, 
including airline employees, in the transportation industry (June 24, 
1991, p. ----; Feb. 24, 1993, p. ----).

  In the 101st Congress, the Committee reported a bill requiring a 
cooling-off period in a labor-management dispute between an airline and 
its unions under the Railway Labor Act (H.R. 1231, Mar. 13, 1989, p. 
4032).


  The general oversight responsibility of the Committee is set forth in 
clause 2(b) of rule X.

  (r) Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

      (1) Veterans' measures generally.



Sec. 687. Veterans' Affairs.

        (2) Cemeteries of the 
United States in which veterans of any war or conflict are or may be 
buried, whether in the United States or abroad, except cemeteries 
administered by the Secretary of the Interior.


      (3) Compensation, vocational rehabilitation, and education of 
veterans.

      (4) Life insurance issued by the Government on account of service 
in the Armed Forces.

      (5) Pensions of all the wars of the United States, general and 
special.

      (6) Readjustment of servicemen to civil life. 

[[Page 412]]

    

      (7) Soldiers' and sailors' civil relief.


      (8) Veterans' hospitals, medical care, and treatment of veterans.


  This Committee was established January 2, 1947, as a part of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), and was vested 
with jurisdiction formerly exercised by the Committees on World War 
Veterans' Legislation (VII, 2077); Invalid Pensions (IV, 4258); and 
Pensions (IV, 4260). Jurisdiction over veterans' cemeteries administered 
by the Department of Defense was transferred from the Committee on 
Interior and Insular Affairs in the 90th Congress (H. Res. 241, Oct. 20, 
1967, p. ----). Vocational rehabilitation, except that pertaining to 
veterans, is under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Economic and 
Educational Opportunities. The Committee has jurisdiction over bills to 
amend the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act of 1940 to permit 
certain declarations of fact in lieu of affidavits (Feb. 4, 1959, p. 
1812), and over bills to amend the Servicemen's and Veterans' Survivor 
Benefits Act relating to service-connected deaths of retired members of 
the uniformed services (May 18, 1959, p. 8273).

  (s) Committee on Ways and Means.



Sec. 688. Ways and Means.

      (1)  Customs, collection 
districts, and ports of entry and delivery.


      (2) Reciprocal trade agreements.

      (3) Revenue measures generally.

      (4) Revenue measures relating to the insular possessions.

      (5) The bonded debt of the United States (subject to the last 
sentence of clause 4(g) of this rule).

      (6) The deposit of public moneys.

      (7) Transportation of dutiable goods.

      (8) Tax exempt foundations and charitable trusts.



[[Page 413]]

      (9) National social security, except (A) health care and 
facilities programs that are supported from general revenues as opposed 
to payroll deductions and (B) work incentive programs.

  A select Committee on Ways and Means dates from 1789. It was made a 
standing committee in 1802. Originally it considered both revenue and 
appropriations, but in 1865 the appropriation bills were given to the 
Committee on Appropriations and certain other bills to the Committee on 
Banking and Currency (now Banking and Financial Services) (IV, 4020). 
Its jurisdiction was also amended on April 5, 1911 (p. 58), and further 
defined in the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), 
which transferred the subject of recesses and final adjournments from 
this Committee to the Committee on Rules.

  By the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975, 
the Committee gained legislative jurisdiction over tax exempt 
foundations and charitable trusts (subpara. (8)), formerly within the 
jurisdiction of the Committee on Banking and Currency, because of their 
impact on the economy, while relinquishing: jurisdiction over health 
care and facilities programs supported from general revenues to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce (now Commerce); jurisdiction over work 
incentive programs to the Committee on Education and Labor (now Economic 
and Educational Opportunities); jurisdiction over general revenue 
sharing to the Committee on Government Operations (now Government Reform 
and Oversight); and jurisdiction over renegotiation to the Committee on 
Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs (now Banking and Financial Services) 
(H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470).

  The Committee's jurisdiction over the bonded debt of the United States 
(subpara. (5)) was made subject to the last sentence of clause 4(g) of 
rule X in the 96th Congress by Public Law 96-78 (93 Stat. 589).

  The revenue jurisdiction of the Committee extends to such subjects as 
transportation of dutiable goods, collection districts, ports of entry 
and delivery (IV, 4026), customs unions, reciprocity treaties (IV, 
4021), revenue relations of the United States with Puerto Rico (IV, 
4025), the revenue bills relating to agricultural products generally, 
excepting oleomargarine (IV, 4022), and tax on cotton and grain futures. 
The Committee formerly had jurisdiction as to seal herds and other 
revenue producing animals in Alaska but this jurisdiction was changed in 
the 68th Congress to the former Committee on Merchant Marine and 
Fisheries (VII, 1725, 1851). As exemplified by sequential referrals in 
the 96th Congress, the Committee has jurisdiction of reported bills 
creating major oilspill and hazardous waste trust funds in the Treasury, 
funded by assessments on all quantities of oil, petrochemical 
feedstocks, and other hazardous substances sold for sale, where the 
scope and size of the funds and the method of assessment (similar to an 
excise tax) represented the collection of general revenue to fund 
particular Federal activities, a type of financing mechanism over which 
the Ways and Means Committee has traditionally exercised jurisdiction 
(May 20, 1980, p. 11862).


[[Page 414]]
``preservation of the Government credit'' (IV, 4023). The Committee has 
jurisdiction over bills providing tax incentives for persons investing 
in Indian property (Feb. 1, 1964, p. 1582), providing unemployment 
compensation to individuals with military or Federal service (Apr. 28, 
1976, p. 11590), providing extended and increased unemployment 
compensation (Apr. 16, 1975, p. 10346), and over private bills waiving 
provisions of the Tariff Act to require reliquidation of certain 
imported materials as duty-free (July 13, 1982, p. 16014).
  The Committee has jurisdiction over subjects relating to the Treasury 
of the United States and the deposit of the public moneys (IV, 4028), 
but it failed to make good a claim to the subjects of ``national 
finances'' and 

  The Committee has exercised jurisdiction, with the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce (now Commerce), over executive communications reporting on 
inpatient hospital services under title XVIII (medicare) and under title 
XIX (medicaid) of the Social Security Act (Dec. 21, 1982, p. 33261); 
with the Committee on Public Works and Transportation (now 
Transportation and Infrastructure) over executive communications 
proposing draft legislation reauthorizing the Surface Transportation Act 
but also containing a revenue title raising taxes to fund surface 
transportation programs (Mar. 20, 1986, p. 5804); with the former 
Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries (succeeded by the Committee 
on Resources) over a bill amending the Fishermen's Protective Act to 
authorize the President to prohibit the importation of any product from 
a country violating an international fishery conservation program (Mar. 
21, 1989, p. 5077); and with three other committees over a bill imposing 
certain international economic sanctions including tariffs (May 27, 
1992, p. ----).

  The Committee in the earlier practice reported resolutions 
distributing the President's annual message (IV, 4030), but since the 
first session of the 64th Congress this practice has been discontinued 
(VIII, 3350).




  The general oversight responsibility set forth in clause 2(b) was 
assigned to the Committee by the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, 
effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 
34470).


                   General Oversight Responsibilities

  2. (a) In order to assist the House in--



Sec. 692a. General oversight.

      (1)  its analysis, 
appraisal, and evaluation of (A) the application, administration, 
execution, and effectiveness of the laws enacted by the Congress, or (B) 
conditions and circumstances which may indicate the necessity or 
desirability of enacting new or additional legislation, and



[[Page 415]]
those laws, and of such additional legislation, as may be necessary or 
appropriate,
the various standing committees shall have oversight responsibilities as 
provided in paragraph (b).
      (2) its formulation, consideration, and enactment of such 
modifications of or changes in 


[[Page 416]]
the area of their respective jurisdiction, to assist in carrying out 
its responsibilities under this subparagraph. The establishment of 
oversight subcommittees shall in no way limit the responsibility of the 
subcommittees with legislative jurisdiction from carrying out their 
oversight responsibilities.


Sec. 692b. 
Oversight subcommittees.

  (b)(1) Each standing committee (other than the Committee on 
Appropriations and the Committee on the Budget) shall review and study, 
on a continuing basis, the application, administration, execution, and 
effectiveness of those laws or parts of laws, the subject matter of 
which is within the jurisdiction of that committee and the organization 
and operation of the Federal agencies and entities having 
responsibilities in or for the administration and execution thereof, in 
order to determine whether such laws and the programs thereunder are 
being implemented and carried out in accordance with the intent of the 
Congress and whether such programs should be continued, curtailed, or 
eliminated. In addition, each such committee shall review and study any 
conditions or circumstances which may indicate the necessity or 
desirability of enacting new or additional legislation within the 
jurisdiction of that committee (whether or not any bill or resolution 
has been introduced with respect thereto), and shall on a continuing 
basis undertake futures research and forecasting on matters within the 
jurisdiction of that committee. Each such committee  having more than twenty members shall 
establish an oversight subcommittee, or require its subcommittees, if 
any, to conduct oversight in 


  (2) The Committee on Government Reform and Oversight shall review and 
study, on a continuing basis, the operation of Government activities at 
all levels with a view to determining their economy and efficiency.

  (3) The Committee on Appropriations shall conduct such studies and 
examinations of the organization and operation of executive departments 
and other executive agencies (including any agency the majority of the 
stock of which is owned by the Government of the United States) as it 
may deem necessary to assist it in the determination of matters within 
its jurisdiction.

  (c) Each standing committee of the House shall have the function of 
reviewing and studying on a continuing basis the impact or probable 
impact of tax policies affecting subjects within its jurisdiction as 
described in clauses 1 and 3.


[[Page 417]]
developing such plans each committee shall, to the maximum extent 
feasible
  (d)(1) Not later than February 15 of the first session of a Congress, 
each standing committee of the House shall, in a meeting that is open to 
the public and with a quorum present, adopt its oversight plans for that 
Congress. Such plans shall be submitted simultaneously to the Committee 
on Government Reform and Oversight and to the Committee on House 
Oversight. In 

          (A) consult with other committees of the House that have 
jurisdiction over the same or related laws, programs, or agencies within 
its jurisdiction, with the objective of ensuring that such laws, 
programs, or agencies are reviewed in the same Congress and that there 
is a maximum of coordination between such committees in the conduct of 
such reviews; and such plans shall include an explanation of what steps 
have been and will be taken to ensure such coordination and cooperation;

          (B) give priority consideration to including in its plans the 
review of those laws, programs, or agencies operating under permanent 
budget authority or permanent statutory authority; and

          (C) have a view toward ensuring that all significant laws, 
programs, or agencies within its jurisdictions are subject to review at 
least once every ten years.

  (2) It shall not be in order to consider any committee expense 
resolution (within the meaning of clause 5 of rule XI), or any amendment 
thereto, for any committee that has not submitted its oversight plans as 
required by this paragraph.


[[Page 418]]
and Oversight shall report to the House the oversight plans submitted 
by each committee together with any recommendations that it, or the 
House leadership group referred to above, may make to ensure the most 
effective coordination of such plans and otherwise achieve the 
objectives of this clause.
  (3) Not later than March 31 in the first session of a Congress, after 
consultation with the Speaker, the majority leader, and the minority 
leader, the Committee on Government Reform 


  (e) The Speaker, with the approval of the House, may appoint special 
ad hoc oversight committees for the purpose of reviewing specific 
matters within the jurisdiction of two or more standing committees.


[[Page 419]]
31, with recommendations to ensure coordination among committees, and 
funding for each committee to be contingent on submission of its 
oversight plans. The 104th Congress also added paragraph (e) to 
authorize the Speaker to appoint special, ad hoc oversight committees to 
review matters within the jurisdiction of more than one standing 
committee (sec. 203(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).



  Clause 2(a), and the first requirement of clause 2(b)(1) that each 
standing committee shall review the application, etc. of all laws within 
its jurisdiction, was originally contained in section 118(b) of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140) and was made part 
of the standing rules on January 22, 1971 (H. Res. 5, p. 144). The 
oversight authority conferred by clause 2(b)(2) on the Committee on 
Government Operations (now Government Reform and Oversight) was first 
made effective as part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 
Stat. 812), and the responsibility of the Committee on Appropriations 
set forth in clause 2(b)(3) was first given that committee on February 
11, 1943, p. 884, continued by resolution of January 9, 1945, p. 135, 
and incorporated into permanent law in section 202(b) of the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946, and made a part of the standing rules on 
Jan. 3, 1953 (pp. 17, 24). Effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d 
Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), the general oversight responsibilities 
set forth in the remainder of the clause were incorporated into the 
rule, and on January 14, 1975 (H. Res. 5, 94th Cong., p. 20), the size 
of those standing committees required by clause 2(b)(1) to establish an 
oversight subcommittee or to require its subcommittees to conduct 
oversight was increased from 15 to more than 20. In the 100th Congress, 
the requirement that representatives from the Committee on Government 
Operations meet with other committees at the beginning of each Congress 
to discuss oversight plans and that the Government Operations Committee 
report to the House its oversight coordination recommendations within 
sixty days after convening of the first session was deleted (H. Res. 5, 
Jan. 6, 1987, p. 6). The 104th Congress added paragraph (d) to require 
that each standing committee submit to the Committees on House Oversight 
and Government Reform and Oversight by February 15 of the first session 
of a Congress its oversight plans for that Congress, such plans to be 
transmitted by those committees to the House by March 


                       Special Oversight Functions



Sec. 693. Special oversight.

  3.  (a) The Committee on 
National Security shall have the function of reviewing and studying, on 
a continuing basis, all laws, programs, and Government activities 
dealing with or involving international arms control and disarmament and 
the education of military dependents in schools.


  (b) The Committee on the Budget shall have the function of--

      (1) making continuing studies of the effect on budget outlays of 
relevant existing and proposed legislation, and reporting the results of 
such studies to the House on a recurring basis; and

      (2) requesting and evaluating continuing studies of tax 
expenditures, devising methods of coordinating tax expenditures, 
policies, and programs with direct budget outlays, and reporting the 
results of such studies to the House on a recurring basis.


[[Page 420]]
programs of student assistance, which are within the jurisdiction of 
other committees.
  (c) The Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities shall have 
the function of reviewing, studying, and coordinating, on a continuing 
basis, all laws, programs, and Government activities dealing with or 
involving domestic educational programs and institutions, and 

  (d) The Committee on International Relations shall have the function 
of reviewing and studying, on a continuing basis, all laws, programs, 
and Government activities dealing with or involving customs 
administration, intelligence activities relating to foreign policy, 
international financial and monetary organizations, and international 
fishing agreements.

  (e) The Committee on Resources shall have the function of reviewing 
and studying, on a continuing basis, all laws, programs, and Government 
activities dealing with Indians and nonmilitary nuclear energy and 
research and development including the disposal of nuclear waste.

  (f) The Committee on Science shall have the function of reviewing and 
studying, on a continuing basis, all laws, programs, and Government 
activities dealing with or involving nonmilitary research and 
development.

  (g) The Committee on Small Business shall have the function of 
studying and investigating, on a continuing basis, the problems of all 
types of small business.

  (h) The Committee on Commerce shall have the function of reviewing and 
studying, on a continuing basis, all laws, programs and government 
activities relating to nuclear and other energy.


[[Page 421]]
and the committee shall, from time to time, report its findings and 
recommendations to the House.

  (i) The Committee on Rules shall have the function of reviewing and 
studying, on a continuing basis, the congressional budget process, 




  The special oversight responsibilities of the Committee on the Budget 
set forth in clause 3(b) were made part of the rules effective July 12, 
1974 by section 101(c) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 
300). The remainder of the clause became effective January 3, 1975 (H. 
Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470) except that paragraph (h) 
was added on January 4, 1977, upon the abolition of the legislative 
jurisdiction in the House of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (H. 
Res. 5, 95th Cong., pp. 53-70) and the name of the Committee on 
International Relations was changed back to Foreign Affairs (H. Res. 89, 
Feb. 5, 1979, pp. 1848-49). Paragraph (e) was amended in the 103d 
Congress to reflect the change from Interior and Insular Affairs to 
Natural Resources (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----). Paragraph (h) was 
amended in the 96th Congress to change the name of the Committee on 
Interstate and Foreign Commerce to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
and to expand that committee's special oversight responsibilities over 
nuclear energy to all energy programs (H. Res. 549, Mar. 25, 1980, pp. 
6405-10) effective January 3, 1981. Paragraph (i) was added by section 
226 of P.L. 99-177, the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 
Act of 1985 (Dec. 12, 1985). A paragraph (j) was added by section 9 of 
the House Administrative Reform Resolution of 1992 (H. Res. 423, Apr. 9, 
1992, p. ----) to establish a bipartisan Subcommittee on Administrative 
Oversight of the Committee on House Administration, to be chaired by the 
chairman of the Committee on House Administration and to be composed of 
members of the Committee on House Administration, one-half from the 
majority party and one-half from the minority party, and paragraph 
(j)(3) was rewritten in the 103d Congress to provide that the Speaker, 
the Majority and Minority Leaders, and the chairman and ranking minority 
member of the Committee on House Administration be informed of tie votes 
in that subcommittee (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----), but paragraph 
(j) was deleted entirely in the 104th Congress (sec. 201(d), H. Res. 6, 
Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). The names of the committees under paragraphs 
(a), (c), (d), (e), (f), and (h) were changed in the 104th Congress 
(sec. 202(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).


                   Additional Functions of Committees


[[Page 422]]
on the Budget as a whole with particular reference to--


Sec. 694a. Appropriations Committee; Budget 
Hearings

  4.  (a)(1)(A) The Committee on Appropriations shall, within 
thirty days after the transmittal of the Budget to the Congress each 
year, hold hearings 


              (i) the basic recommendations and budgetary policies of 
the President in the presentation of the Budget; and

              (ii) the fiscal, financial, and economic assumptions used 
as bases in arriving at total estimated expenditures and receipts.

          (B) In holding hearings pursuant to subdivision (A), the 
committee shall receive testimony from the Secretary of the Treasury, 
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Chairman of the 
Council of Economic Advisers, and such other persons as the committee 
may desire.



Sec. 694b. Procedure for Budget 
Hearings.

          (C)  Hearings pursuant to subdivision (A), or any part thereof, 
shall be held in open session, except when the committee, in open 
session and with a quorum present, determines by rollcall vote that the 
testimony to be taken at that hearing on that day may be related to a 
matter of national security: Provided, however, That the committee may 
by the same procedure close one subsequent day of hearing. A transcript 
of all such hearings shall be printed and a copy thereof furnished to 
each Member, Delegate, and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.



[[Page 423]]
cordance with such procedures as the two committees jointly may 
determine.

          (D) Hearings pursuant to subdivision (A), or any part thereof, 
may be held before joint meetings of the committee and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the Senate in ac


  This part of clause 4 was originally contained in section 242(c)(1) of 
the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 and was made part of the 
standing rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). 
Paragraph (a)(1)(C), requiring open hearings, was first adopted in the 
93d Congress (H. Res. 259, Mar. 7, 1973, pp. 6713-20), and was amended 
in the 94th Congress to limit the effect of a vote to close a hearing to 
that day and one subsequent day (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20).


[[Page 424]]
tee shall be automatically discharged from further consideration of the 
bill or resolution and the bill or resolution shall be placed on the 
appropriate calendar.


Sec. 694c. Budget Act; 15day Referral to 
Appropriations.

    -  (2)  Whenever any bill or resolution which provides new 
spending authority described in section 401(c)(2)(C) of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 is reported by a committee of the House 
and the amount of new budget authority which will be required for the 
fiscal year involved if such bill or resolution is enacted as so 
reported exceeds the appropriate allocation of new budget authority 
reported as described in clause 4(h) in connection with the most 
recently agreed to concurrent resolution on the budget for such fiscal 
year, such bill or resolution shall then be referred to the Committee on 
Appropriations with instructions to report it, with the committee's 
recommendations and (if the committee deems it desirable) with an 
amendment limiting the total amount of new spending authority provided 
in the bill or resolution, within 15 calendar days (not counting any day 
on which the House is not in session) beginning with the day following 
the day on which it is so referred. If the Committee on Appropriations 
fails to report the bill or resolution within such 15-day period, the 
commit



      (3) In addition, the Committee on Appropriations shall study on a 
continuing basis those provisions of law which (on the first day of the 
first fiscal year for which the congressional budget process is 
effective) provide spending authority or permanent budget authority and 
shall report to the House from time to time its recommendations for 
terminating or modifying such provisions.


  Subparagraph (2) first became effective on July 12, 1974 by inclusion 
in section 401(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 
317), was incorporated into the rules effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 
988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), and was amended in the 95th 
Congress to correct an error in cross-reference (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 
1977, pp. 53-70). Subparagraph (3) was also contained in the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 in section 402(f), and was likewise 
incorporated into the rules effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d 
Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470).



Sec. 695. Budget.

  (b)  The Committee on the Budget shall have 
the duty--


      (1) to review on a continuing basis the conduct by the 
Congressional Budget Office of its functions and duties;

      (2) to hold hearings, and receive testimony from Members of 
Congress and such appropriate representatives of Federal departments and 
agencies, the general public, and national organizations as it deems 
desirable, in developing the concurrent resolutions on the budget for 
each fiscal year;


[[Page 425]]
the reporting of reconciliation bills and resolutions when so required;
      (3) to make all reports required of it by the Congressional Budget 
Act of 1974, including 

      (4) to study on a continuing basis those provisions of law which 
exempt Federal agencies or any of their activities or outlays from 
inclusion in the Budget of the United States Government, and to report 
to the House from time to time its recommendations for terminating or 
modifying such provisions; and


      (5) to study on a continuing basis proposals designed to improve 
and facilitate methods of congressional budget-making, and to report to 
the House from time to time the results of such study together with its 
recommendations.



  Paragraph (b)(1) became a part of the rules on July 12, 1974 by 
enactment of section 101(c) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (88 
Stat. 300). Subparagraph (2), contained in section 301(d) of that Act, 
subparagraph (3), subparagraph (4), contained in section 606 of that 
Act, and subparagraph (5), contained in section 703 of that Act, all 
were made part of the rules effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d 
Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). Paragraph (b)(2) was amended in the 99th 
Congress by section 232 of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 
Control Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-177, Dec. 12, 1985) to remove reference to 
the first concurrent resolution on the budget.



Sec. 696. Government Reform and Oversight.

  (c)(1)  The 
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight shall have the general 
function of--



[[Page 426]]

          (A) receiving and examining reports of the Comptroller General 
of the United States and of submitting such recommendations to the House 
as it deems necessary or desirable in connection with the subject matter 
of such reports; 

          (B) evaluating the effects of laws enacted to reorganize the 
legislative and executive branches of the Government; and

          (C) studying intergovernmental relationships between the 
United States and the States and municipalities, and between the United 
States and international organizations of which the United States is a 
member.


      (2) In addition to its duties under subparagraph (1), the 
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight may at any time conduct 
investigations of any matter without regard to the provisions of clause 
1, 2, or 3 (or this clause) conferring jurisdiction over such matter 
upon another standing committee. The committee's findings and 
recommendations in any such investigation shall be made available to the 
other standing committee or committees having jurisdiction over the 
matter involved (and included in the report of any such other committee 
when required by clause 2(l)(3) of rule XI).


<>   (d) The Committee on House 
Oversight shall have the function of--
  Paragraph (c)(1) became effective January 2, 1947 as part of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812). Paragraph (c)(2) 
was made a function of the Committee on Government Operations (now 
Government Reform and Oversight) effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 
93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). The Committee was renamed in the 
104th Congress (sec. 202(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).


[[Page 427]]
cooperation with the Senate, examining all bills and joint resolutions 
which shall have passed both Houses to see that they are correctly 
enrolled, <> forthwith presenting 
those which originated in the House to the President of the United 
States in person after their signature by the Speaker of the House and 
the President of the Senate and reporting the fact and date of such 
presentation to the House; and
  (1) examining all bills, amendments, and joint resolutions after 
passage by the House and, in 




Sec. 697c. Direction of Officers.

  (2)  providing policy 
direction for, and oversight of, the Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Chief 
Administrative Officer, and Inspector General.



[[Page 428]]
termination and accounting for funds of any legislative service 
organization in existence on January 3, 1995 (sec. 222, H. Res. 6, Jan. 
4, 1995, p. ----).

  The requirements set forth in paragraph (d)(1) were originally the 
responsibility of the Committee on Enrolled Bills created in 1789 (IV, 
4350), and became the responsibility of the Committee on House 
Administration (now House Oversight) when that Committee was created 
effective January 2, 1947 as part of the Legislative Reorganization Act 
of 1946 (60 Stat. 812). The Committee's duty to arrange for memorial 
services of Members was eliminated from the rules effective January 3, 
1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), when paragraph 
(d)(3) required the Committee to provide a committee scheduling service. 
The use of that service, provided through House Information Systems, was 
made mandatory on all committees and subcommittees in the 97th Congress 
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 98-113), but the requirement was stricken 
altogether when two provisions were added by section 10 of the House 
Administrative Reform Resolution of 1992 (H. Res. 423, 102d Cong., Apr. 
9, 1992, p. ----) to ensure the orderly transfer of functions and 
entities from elected officers to the Director of Non-legislative and 
Financial Services and to provide for policy direction and oversight of 
both administrative officials and elected officers. In the 104th 
Congress the rule was amended (1) to reflect the change in the name of 
the Committee on House Administration to the Committee on House 
Oversight and (2) to reflect the abolishment of the Director of Non-
legislative and Financial Services (sec. 201, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, 
p. ----). The 104th Congress also prohibited the establishment or 
continuation of any legislative service organization (as that term had 
been understood in the 103d Congress) and directed the Committee on 
House Oversight to take such steps as were necessary to ensure an 
orderly 


[[Page 429]]
responsibilities, which may have been disclosed in a committee 
investigation; (D) to give consideration to the request of any Member, 
officer, or employee of the House for an advisory opinion with respect 
to the general propriety of any current or proposed conduct of such 
Member, officer, or employee and, with appropriate deletions to assure 
the privacy of the individual concerned, to publish such opinion for the 
guidance of other Members, officers, and employees of the House; and (E) 
to give consideration to the request of any Member, officer, or employee 
of the House for a written waiver in exceptional circumstances with 
respect to clause 4 of rule XLIII.


Sec. 698. 
Standards of Official Conduct; additional duties.

  (e)(1) The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is authorized: 
(A) to recommend to the House from time to time such  administrative 
actions as it may deem appropriate to establish or enforce standards of 
official conduct for Members, officers, and employees of the House, and 
any letter of reproval or other administrative action of the committee 
pursuant to an investigation under subdivision (B) shall only be issued 
or implemented as a part of a report required by such subdivision; (B) 
to investigate, subject to subparagraph (2) of this paragraph, any 
alleged violation, by a Member, officer, or employee of the House, of 
the Code of Official Conduct or of any law, rule, regulation, or other 
standard of conduct applicable to the conduct of such Member, officer, 
or employee in the performance of his duties or the discharge of his 
responsibilities, and after notice and hearing (unless the right to a 
hearing is waived by the Member, officer, or employee), shall report to 
the House its findings of fact and recommendations, if any, upon the 
final disposition of any such investigation, and such action as the 
committee may deem appropriate in the circumstances; (C) to report to 
the appropriate Federal or State authorities, with the approval of the 
House, any substantial evidence of a violation, by a Member, officer, or 
employee of the House, of any law applicable to the performance of his 
duties or the discharge of his 


  (2)(A) No resolution, report, recommendation, or advisory opinion 
relating to the official conduct of a Member, officer, or employee of 
the House shall be made by the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct, and no investigation of such conduct shall be undertaken by 
such committee, unless approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of 
the members of the committee.

  (B) Except in the case of an investigation undertaken by the committee 
on its own initiative, the committee may undertake an investigation 
relating to the official conduct of an individual Member, officer, or 
employee of the House of Representatives only--


[[Page 430]]
Member of the House and transmitted to the committee by such Member, or
          (i) upon receipt of a complaint, in writing and under oath, 
made by or submitted to a 

          (ii) upon receipt of a complaint, in writing and under oath, 
directly from an individual not a Member of the House if the committee 
finds that such complaint has been submitted by such individual to not 
less than three Members of the House who have refused, in writing, to 
transmit such complaint to the committee.

  (C) No investigation shall be undertaken by the committee of any 
alleged violation of a law, rule, regulation, or standard of conduct not 
in effect at the time of the alleged violation; nor shall any 
investigation be undertaken by the committee of any alleged violation 
which occurred before the third previous Congress unless the committee 
determines that the alleged violation is directly related to any alleged 
violation which occurred in a more recent Congress.


[[Page 431]]

  (D) A member of the committee shall be ineligible to participate, as a 
member of the committee, in any committee proceeding relating to his or 
her official conduct. In any case in which a member of the committee is 
ineligible to act as a member of the committee under the preceding 
sentence, the Speaker of the House shall designate a Member of the House 
from the same political party as the ineligible member of the committee 
to act as a member of the committee in any committee proceeding relating 
to the official conduct of such ineligible member. 

  (E) A member of the committee may disqualify himself from 
participating in any investigation of the conduct of a Member, officer, 
or employee of the House upon the submission in writing and under oath 
of an affidavit of disqualification stating that he cannot render an 
impartial and unbiased decision in the case in which he seeks to 
disqualify himself. If the committee approves and accepts such affidavit 
of disqualification, the chairman shall so notify the Speaker and 
request the Speaker to designate a Member of the House from the same 
political party as the disqualifying member of the committee to act as a 
member of the committee in any committee proceeding relating to such 
investigation.


  (F) No information or testimony received, or the contents of a 
complaint or the fact of its filing, shall be publicly disclosed by any 
Committee or staff member unless specifically authorized in each 
instance by a vote of the full Committee.

  The investigative authority contained in paragraph (e) was first 
conferred upon the Committee in the 90th Congress (H. Res. 1099, Apr. 3, 
1968, p. ----) and, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., 
Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), the former requirement in paragraph (e)(2)(A) 
that seven committee members must authorize an investigation, was 
changed to permit a majority of the Committee to provide that 
authorization. Subparagraph (E) was added on January 4, 1977 (H. Res. 5, 
95th Cong., pp. 53-70), to provide a mechanism for a committee member to 
disqualify himself from participating in an investigation, and 
subparagraph (F) was added on January 15, 1979 (H. Res. 5, 96th Cong., 
p. 8).


[[Page 432]]
respecting the final disposition of a matter in which it votes to 
undertake an investigation; (3) a new subparagraph (1)(E) was added to 
empower the Committee to consider requests that the rule restricting the 
acceptance of gifts be waived in exceptional circumstances; and (4) 
subparagraph (2)(C) was amended to set a general limitation on actions 
for committee consideration of ethics matters. In addition, the Act 
contains free-standing provisions requiring (1) that the respective 
party caucuses nominate seven majority and seven minority members 
(although in the 104th Congress only five returning majority and five 
returning minority members were initially elected (H. Res. 41, H. Res. 
42, Jan. 20, 1995, p. ----)), (2) that the Committee adopt rules 
establishing investigative and adjudicative subcommittees, and (3) that 
the Committee adopt rules establishing an Office on Advice and Education 
(see sec. 803(b), (c), (d), and (i), P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989). The 
texts of those provisions follow:

 ``Sec. 803. Reforms Respecting the Committee on Standards of Official 
  Clause 4(e) was amended in several particulars by the Ethics Reform 
Act of 1989 (P.L. 101-194): (1) subparagraph (1)(A) was amended to 
enable a letter of reproval or other administrative action of the 
Committee to be implemented as part of a report to the House, with no 
action required of the House; (2) subparagraph (1)(B) was amended to 
require the Committee to report to the House its findings of fact and 
any recommendations 


                               Conduct.--


                                  * * *


  ``(b) committee composition.--The respective party caucus or 
conference of the House of Representatives shall each nominate to the 
House of Representatives at the beginning of each Congress 7 members to 
serve on the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

  ``(c) investigative subcommittees.--The Committee on Standards of 
Official Conduct shall adopt rules providing--

          ``(1) for the establishment of a 4 or 6-member investigative 

        subcommittee (with equal representation from the majority and 

        minority parties) whenever the committee votes to undertake any 

        investigation;

          ``(2) that the senior majority and minority members on an 

        investigative subcommittee shall serve as the chairman and 

        ranking minority member of the subcommittee; and

          ``(3) that the chairman and ranking minority member of the 

        full committee may only serve as non-voting, ex officio members 


        on an investigative subcommittee.
``Clause 5(d) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives 
shall not apply to any investigative subcommittee.

  ``(d) adjudicatory subcommittees.--The Committee on Standards of 
Official Conduct shall adopt rules providing--

          ``(1) that upon the completion of an investigation, an 

        investigative subcommittee shall report its findings and 

        recommendations to the committee;

          ``(2) that, if an investigative subcommittee by majority vote 

        of its membership adopts a statement of alleged violation, the 

        remaining members of the committee shall comprise an 


[[Page 433]]
        adjudicatory sub

        committee to hold a disciplinary hearing on the violation alleged in 

        the statement;

          ``(3) that any statement of alleged violation and any written 

        response thereto shall be made public at the first meeting or 

        hearing on the matter which is open to the public after the 

        respondent has been given full opportunity to respond to the 

        statement in accordance with committee rules, but, if no public 

        hearing or meeting is held on the matter, the statement of 

        alleged violation and any written response thereto shall be 

        included in the committee's final report to the House of 

        Representatives as required by clause 4(e)(1)(B) of rule X of 

        the Rules of the House of Representatives;

          ``(4) that a quorum for an adjudicatory subcommittee for the 

        purpose of taking testimony and conducting any business shall 

        consist of a majority of the membership of the subcommittee plus 

        one; and

          ``(5) that an adjudicatory subcommittee shall determine, after 

        receiving evidence, whether the counts in the statement have 


        been proved and shall report its findings to the committee.
``Clause 5(d) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives 
shall not apply to any adjudicatory subcommittee.


                                  * * *

  ``(i) advice and education.--(1) The Committee on Standards of 
Official Conduct shall establish within the Committee an Office on 
Advice and Education (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the 
`Office') under the supervision of the chairman.

          ``(2) The Office shall be headed by a director who shall be 

        appointed by the chairman, in consultation with the ranking 

        minority member, and shall be comprised of such staff as the 

        chairman determines is necessary to carry out the 

        responsibilities of the Office.

          ``(3) The primary responsibilities of the Office shall 

        include:

                  ``(A) Providing information and guidance to Members, 

                officers and employees of the House regarding any laws, 

                rules, regulations, and other standards of conduct 

                applicable to such individuals in their official 

                capacities, and any interpretations and advisory 

                opinions of the committee.

                  ``(B) Submitting to the chairman and ranking minority 

                member of the committee any written request from any 

                such Member, officer or employee for an interpretation 

                of applicable laws, rules, regulations, or other 

                standards of conduct, together with any recommendations 

                thereon.

                  ``(C) Recommending to the committee for its 

                consideration formal advisory opinions of general 

                applicability.

                  ``(D) Developing and carrying out, subject to the 

                approval of the chairman, periodic educational briefings 

                for Members, officers and employees of the House on 

                those laws, rules, regulations, or other standards of 

                conduct applicable to them. 

[[Page 434]]

                

          ``(4) No information provided to the Committee on Standards of 

        Official Conduct by a Member, officer or employee of the House 

        of Representatives when seeking advice regarding prospective 

        conduct of such Member, officer or employee may be used as the 

        basis for initiating an investigation under clause 4(e)(1)(B) of 

        rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, if such 

        Member, officer or employee acts in accordance with the written 


        advice of the committee.''.

  On occasions where the House has directed the Committee to conduct 
specific investigations by separate resolution, it has authorized the 
Committee to take depositions with one Member present, notwithstanding 
clause 2(h)(1) of rule XI, to serve subpoenas within or without the 
United States, and to participate by special counsel in relevant 
judicial proceedings (see H. Res. 252, 95th Cong., Feb. 9, 1977, pp. 
3966-75; H. Res. 608, Mar. 27, 1980, pp. 6995-98; H. Res. 254, June 30, 
1983, p. 18279), and to investigate persons other than Members, officers 
and employees with expanded subpoena authority (see H. Res. 1054, 94th 
Cong., Mar. 3, 1976, pp. 5165-68). By unanimous consent the Committee 
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). By resolutions considered as 
questions of the privileges of the House, the Committee has been 
directed to investigate illegal solicitation of political contributions 
in the House Office Building by unnamed sitting Members (July 10, 1985, 
p. 18397); to review GAO audits of the operations of the ``bank'' in the 
Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (Oct. 3, 1991, p. ----), to disclose the 
names and pertinent account information of Members and former Members 
found to have abused the privileges of that entity (Mar. 12, 1992, p. --
--), and to disclose further account information respecting Members and 
former Members having checks held by that entity (Mar. 12, 1992, p. ----
); and to investigate violations of confidentiality by staff engaged in 
the investigation of the operation and management of the Office of the 
Postmaster (July 22, 1992, p. ----). In compliance with one such 
direction of the House, the Acting Chairman of the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct inserted in the Record names and pertinent 
account information of Members and former Members found to have abused 
the privileges of the ``bank'' in the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (H. 
Res. 393, Apr. 1, 1992, p. ----).



[[Page 435]]

  The committee has compiled statutory and rule-based ethical standards 
in the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong., 2d Sess.). In the Manual, the 
Committee incorporates its advisory opinions issued under clause 
4(e)(1)(D) of rule X, together with advisory opinions issued by the 
former Select Committee on Ethics, in its discussions of various ethical 
issues, including gifts, outside income, financial disclosure, staff 
rights and duties, official allowances and franking, casework 
considerations, campaign financing and practices, and involvement with 
official and unofficial organizations.



Sec. 699a. Annual appropriations.

  (f)(1)  Each standing 
committee of the House shall, in its consideration of all bills and 
joint resolutions of a public character within its jurisdiction, insure 
that appropriations for continuing programs and activities of the 
Federal Government and the District of Columbia government will be made 
annually to the maximum extent feasible and consistent with the nature, 
requirements, and objectives of the programs and activities involved. 
For the purposes of this paragraph a Government agency includes the 
organizational units of government listed in clause 7(c) of rule XIII.



  (2) Each standing committee of the House shall review, from time to 
time, each continuing program within its jurisdiction for which 
appropriations are not made annually in order to ascertain whether such 
program could be modified so that appropriations therefor would be made 
annually.


  The provisions of paragraph (f) derive from section 253(c) of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140), and were made 
part of the rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 
144).


[[Page 436]]
authorized in all bills and resolutions within its jurisdiction which 
it intends to be effective during that fiscal year. The views and 
estimates submitted by the Committee on Ways and Means under the 
preceding sentence shall include a specific recommendation, made after 
holding public hearings, as to the appropriate level of the public debt 
which should be set forth in the concurrent resolution on the budget 
referred to in such sentence and serve as the basis for an increase or 
decrease in the statutory limit on such debt under the procedures 
provided by rule XLIX.


Sec. 699b. Concurrent resolution 
on Budget.

  (g) Each standing committee of the House shall, on or before February 
25 of each year, submit to the Committee on the Budget (1) its views and 
estimates with respect to all  matters to be set forth in the concurrent resolution on the 
budget for the ensuing fiscal year which are within its jurisdiction or 
functions, and (2) an estimate of the total amounts of new budget 
authority, and budget outlays resulting therefrom, to be provided or 


  (h) As soon as practicable after a concurrent resolution on the budget 
for any fiscal year is agreed to, each standing committee of the House 
(after consulting with the appropriate committee or committees of the 
Senate) shall subdivide any allocations made to it in the joint 
explanatory statement accompanying the conference report on such 
resolution, and promptly report such subdivisions to the House, in the 
manner provided by section 302 or section 602 (in the case of fiscal 
years 1991 through 1995) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.


[[Page 437]]
mit such recommendations to the Committee on the Budget, in accordance 
with the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.



Sec. 699c. Reconciliation 
process.

  (i) Each standing committee of the House which is directed in a 
concurrent resolution on the budget to  determine and recommend changes in laws, bills, or 
resolutions under the reconciliation process shall promptly make such 
determination and recommendations, and report a reconciliation bill or 
resolution (or both) to the House or sub





  The requirements of paragraphs (g), (h), and (i) were originally 
contained in sections 301(c), 302(b), and 310(c) respectively of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-344, July 12, 1974), and were 
incorporated into this rule effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d 
Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). The requirement in paragraph (g) that 
the Committee on Ways and Means include a specific recommendation as to 
the appropriate level of the public debt in its views and estimates 
submitted to the Committee on the Budget was added in the 96th Congress 
by Public Law 96-78 (93 Stat. 589) and was originally intended to apply 
to concurrent resolutions on the budget for fiscal years beginning on or 
after October 1, 1980. However, in the 96th Congress the provisions of 
that public law amending the rules of the House were made applicable to 
the third concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 1980 as 
well as the first concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal 1981 
(H. Res. 642, Apr. 23, 1980, pp. 8789-90). In the 99th Congress the 
requirement in paragraph (g) for submissions to the Committee on the 
Budget by March 15 was changed to February 25 by section 232(c) of the 
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-177, 
Dec. 12, 1985). Paragraph (h) was amended by the Budget Enforcement Act 
of 1990 (P.L. 101-508, tit. XIII, Nov. 5, 1990) to conform to the 
enactment of title VI of the Budget Act.


     Referral of Bills, Resolutions, and Other Matters to Committees



Sec. 700. Referral procedures.

  5.  (a) Each bill, resolution, 
or other matter which relates to a subject listed under any standing 
committee named in clause 1 shall be referred by the Speaker in 
accordance with the provisions of this clause.



[[Page 438]]
vision and reporting to the House with respect thereto. Any precedents, 
rulings, and procedures in effect prior to the 94th Congress shall be 
applied with respect to referrals under this clause only to the extent 
that they will contribute to the achievement of the objectives of this 
clause.
  (b) Every referral of any matter under paragraph (a) shall be made in 
such manner as to assure to the maximum extent feasible that each 
committee which has jurisdiction under clause 1 over the subject matter 
of any provision thereof will have responsibility for considering such 
pro


  (c) In carrying out paragraphs (a) and (b) with respect to any matter, 
the Speaker shall designate a committee of primary jurisdiction; but 
also may refer the matter to one or more additional committees, for 
consideration in sequence (subject to appropriate time limitations), 
either on its initial referral or after the matter has been reported by 
the committee of primary jurisdiction; or may refer portions of the 
matter to one or more additional committees (reflecting different 
subjects and jurisdictions) for the consideration only of designated 
portions; or may refer the matter to a special ad hoc committee 
appointed by the Speaker with the approval of the House (with members 
from the committees having jurisdiction) for the specific purpose of 
considering that matter and reporting to the House thereon; or may make 
such other provisions as may be considered appropriate.


[[Page 439]]
on January 4, 1977 (H. Res. 5, pp. 53-70) to abolish the legislative 
jurisdiction in the House of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. The 
legislative jurisdiction of the Joint Committee was divided among the 
Committees on Armed Services (now National Security) (military 
applications of nuclear energy), Interior and Insular Affairs (now 
Resources) (regulation of the domestic nuclear energy industry, since 
transferred to the Committee on Commerce in the 104th Congress), Foreign 
Affairs (now International Relations) (nonproliferation of nuclear 
energy and international nuclear export agreements), Interstate and 
Foreign Commerce (now Commerce) (the same jurisdiction over nuclear 
energy as exercised over other energy), and Science and Technology (now 
Science) (nondefense nuclear research and development). In addition, the 
Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (now Commerce) was given 
oversight jurisdiction over all laws, programs, and government 
activities affecting nuclear energy. Paragraph (e) was deleted entirely 
in the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, p. 98). At the same time 
the House deleted paragraph (d) which formerly required the 
Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress to prepare 
factual descriptions of each bill or resolution introduced in the House 
to be published in the Congressional Record.
  This clause became effective as part of the rules on January 3, 1975 
(H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). Prior to that time a 
bill or resolution could not be divided for reference among two or more 
committees, although it contained matter properly within the 
jurisdiction of several committees (IV, 4361). Paragraph (c) was amended 
on January 4, 1977 (H. Res. 5, pp. 53-70) to authorize the Speaker to 
place an appropriate time limit for consideration by the first committee 
or committees to which referred. In the 104th Congress paragraph (c) was 
again amended to require the Speaker to initially designate a committee 
of primary jurisdiction in each referral of a measure to more than one 
committee (sec. 205, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). A paragraph (e) 
was added to the clause 

  An order of the House that no organizational or legislative business 
be conducted on certain days (first by provision of a concurrent 
resolution, but extended by unanimous consent) was considered not to 
deprive Members of the privilege of introducing bills and resolutions 
during pro forma sessions on those days, such measures being numbered on 
the day introduced but not noted in the Record or referred to committee 
until the day on which business was resumed (H. Con. Res. 260, 102d 
Cong., Nov. 26, 1991, p. ----; see Jan. 22, 1992, p. ----, and Jan. 28, 
1992, p. ----).


[[Page 440]]
(Speaker Albert, June 1, 1976, p. 16588); may divide a matter for 
initial reference to committees and set (pursuant to the clause as 
amended in the 95th Congress) appropriate time limitations on the 
initial reference to each committee (Speaker O'Neill, Feb. 16, 1977, p. 
4532); may sequentially refer a bill reported by one committee, with a 
committee amendment, to another committee for consideration of the bill 
and amendment of the previous committee (Speaker O'Neill, Oct. 13, 1977, 
p. 33716); may sequentially refer to a third committee a portion of an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by one of two 
committees to which the bill had been referred, after the second 
committee reports the bill (Speaker O'Neill, May 22, 1985, p. 13126); 
may refer sequentially to two committees only a portion of the amendment 
reported by the primary committee for consideration of such provisions 
within that portion as fall within their respective jurisdictions 
(Speaker Wright, Sept. 9, 1987, p. 23648); may discharge a reported bill 
from the Union Calendar for sequential reference to another committee 
(Speaker O'Neill, Apr. 27, 1978, p. 11742; June 19, 1986, p. 14741; June 
12, 1990, p. 13670); may discharge a committee from the further 
consideration of a bill not reported by it within the time period for 
which the bill was referred by the Speaker and place the bill on the 
appropriate calendar (May 8, 1978, p. 12924); may jointly refer 
designated portions of a bill to a second committee while referring the 
entire bill to another committee (Speaker O'Neill, Mar. 3, 1982, p. 
3155); may delimit the period for sequential consideration of a bill in 
terms of legislative days (June 30, 1988, p. 16597); may sequentially 
refer a bill without day (Sept. 27, 1988, p. 25827); may sequentially 
refer a bill back to the first-reporting committee when it is reported 
from the second-reporting committee with a nongermane amendment within 
the jurisdiction of the first committee and not within the bounds of the 
initial referral (Oct. 4, 1988, p. 28242); and may refer a bill 
primarily to one committee (as now required by paragraph (c)) while also 
referring it initially to additional committees for time periods to be 
subsequently determined when the primary committee reports, in each case 
for consideration of matters within their respective jurisdictions 
(Speaker Gingrich, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
  Pursuant to his authority under this clause, subject to paragraph (c), 
the Speaker may refer a bill to a special ad hoc committee appointed by 
him with the approval of the House (from the members of the committees 
with legislative jurisdiction) for consideration and report on that 
particular bill (Speaker Albert, Apr. 22, 1975, p. 11261); may jointly 
refer a report of a select committee filed with the Clerk to standing 
committees of the House for their study (Speaker Albert, Feb. 16, 1976, 
p. 3158); may divide a communication or bill for reference where the 
proposition is divisible by jurisdiction (Speaker Albert, Feb. 4, 1975, 
p. 2253); may refer a bill to more than one committee for their 
respective consideration of such provisions of the bill as fall within 
their jurisdiction (Speaker Albert, Feb. 25, 1976, p. 4315); may 
sequentially refer a bill reported from a committee to other committees 
for a time certain for consideration of such portions of the bill as 
fall within their respective jurisdictions (Speaker Albert, Apr. 9, 
1976, p. 10265; May 17, 1976, p. 14093); or may limit a sequential 
referral to matters having a direct effect on subjects within the 
committee's jurisdiction (Speaker O'Neill, June 7, 1983, p. 14699); and 
may extend the time period of a sequentially referred bill and may refer 
the bill to yet another committee under the same sequential referral 
conditions 


[[Page 441]]
15, 1980, p. 7760). The Speaker first exercised the authority to base 
referrals on committee amendments by sequentially referring a bill 
reported from the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, relating 
only to Corps of Engineers water projects as introduced but amended in 
committee to address general water resource policy affecting irrigation 
and reclamation projects and soil conservation programs, to the 
Committees on Agriculture and Interior and Insular Affairs for 
consideration of provisions of the committee amendment within their 
jurisdiction (Speaker O'Neill, May 20, 1981, p. 10361). Thus the Speaker 
may sequentially refer a reported bill to another committee solely for 
consideration of provisions of the first committee's amendment within 
its jurisdiction and not for consideration of the entire bill (Apr. 5, 
1982, p. 6580), may sequentially refer a reported bill to two other 
committees for different periods of time, solely for consideration of 
designated sections of the first committee's recommended amendment (May 
18, 1982, p. 10418; Aug. 1, 1985, p. 22681), may discharge from the 
Union Calendar and sequentially refer to another committee a bill solely 
for consideration of designated portions of the first committee's 
amendment (May 21, 1982, p. 11169), and may sequentially refer a bill 
which has been initially referred to several committees but reported 
only by one, for consideration of the reporting committee's amendment 
(June 17, 1982, p. 14069; Sept. 5, 1990, p. ----), and may sequentially 
refer a bill referred to more than one committee when the first 
committee reports, for a period ending a number of days after the next 
committee reports (Speaker O'Neill, Aug. 1, 1985, p. 22681), or after 
all committees report (June 10, 1988, p. 14079).
  The Speaker announced a new application of his authority on sequential 
referrals in the 97th Congress, namely that the sequential referral of 
any bills or resolutions from a committee initially reporting a bill 
would be based upon the subject matter contained in any amendment 
recommended by the reporting committee, as well as upon the original 
text of the bill or resolution (Speaker O'Neill, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 115, 
116), or, as announced in the 100th Congress, in certain cases, based 
only upon the text of a reported substitute amendment in lieu of 
original text (Speaker Wright, Jan. 6, 1987, p. 22). In the 96th 
Congress, the Speaker had followed a more restrictive policy, permitting 
a sequential committee to review (1) those portions of introduced text 
within its jurisdiction and (2) those portions of an amendment within 
its jurisdiction when the introduced version also dictated a sequential 
referral to the committee (Speaker O'Neill, Apr. 

  On the last day of an expiring sequential referral, a committee has 
until midnight to file its report with the Clerk (Oct. 9, 1991, p. ----
).


[[Page 442]]

  Before paragraph (c) was amended in the 104th Congress to require the 
Speaker to designate a committee of primary jurisdiction, the Speaker 
announced at the convening of the 98th Congress that he would exercise 
his authority, in situations which warranted it, to designate a primary 
committee among those to which a bill was jointly referred, and to 
impose time limits on committees having a secondary interest following 
the report of the primary committee under a joint referral (Speaker 
O'Neill, Jan. 3, 1983, p. 54; Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----). The Speaker may 
exercise this authority by referring a bill concurrently to two 
committees, with a time limit on one of the committees ending within a 
certain period after the other committee reports to the House (Jan. 27, 
1983, p. 937; Feb. 2, 1983, p. 1492; Apr. 9, 1987, p. 8665) or with a 
time limit on one committee ending with a date certain (Speaker O'Neill, 
July 31, 1985, p. 21936). In the 98th Congress, the Speaker exercised 
his authority under this clause to sequentially refer a joint resolution 
making continuing appropriations, reported as privileged by the 
Committee on Appropriations pursuant to clause 4(a) of rule XI, to the 
committee having legislative jurisdiction over a legislative provision 
in the resolution, without a time limitation on the sequential referral 
(H.J. Res. 367, Sept. 22, 1983, p. 25523). 

  Pursuant to the Speaker's authority under clause 2 of rule XXIV, 
relating to messages from the Senate, he has discretionary authority to 
refer from the Speaker's table to standing committees, Senate amendments 
to House-passed bills, under any conditions permitted under clause 5 of 
rule X for introduced bills; he may for example impose a time limitation 
for consideration only of a portion of the Senate amendment, not germane 
to the original House bill, by the standing committee with subject-
matter jurisdiction, without referring the remainder of the Senate 
amendment to the House committee with jurisdiction over the original 
House bill (Speaker O'Neill, H.R. 31, Mar 26, 1981, p. 5397). Beginning 
with the 98th Congress, the Speaker announced a policy of referring 
nongermane Senate amendments under certain conditions (Jan. 3, 1983, p. 
54; Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----).

  Resolutions authorizing the Speaker to establish an ad hoc committee 
for the consideration of a particular bill under paragraph (c) of this 
clause, and extending the reporting date for such a committee, are 
privileged when offered from the floor at the Speaker's request (Speaker 
Albert, Apr. 22, 1975, p. 11261, Jan. 26, 1976, p. 876; Speaker O'Neill, 
Jan. 11, 1977, pp. 894-98; Apr. 21, 1977, pp. 11550-56).

  The Speaker may refer to an ad hoc committee, established with the 
approval of the House, bills, resolutions, and other matters (including 
messages and communications) for the purpose of considering such matters 
and reporting to the House thereon, and the resolution creating such a 
committee may specify whether referrals to such a committee shall be by 
initial or sequential reference or by any of the other methods provided 
by this clause (H. Res. 508, Apr. 21, 1977, pp. 11550-56; Speaker 
O'Neill, July 11, 1977, p. 22183, July 20, 1977, p. 24167). Further, 
under clause 5(c), the Speaker may divide a bill into two or more parts 
for initial reference to different committees and may also jointly refer 
a portion of the bill to some of those committees, and may set 
appropriate time limitations for reporting by every standing committee 
to which the bill is initially referred (Speaker O'Neill, May 2, 1977, 
p. 13184).




 Election and Membership of Committees; Chairmen; Vacancies; Select and 
  Clause 4 of rule XXII provides the mechanism for changes of referrals 
erroneously made.


                          Conference Committees


[[Page 443]]
spective party caucuses. It shall always be in order to consider 
resolutions recommended by the respective party caucuses to change the 
composition of standing committees.


Sec. 701a. Electing committees.

  6.  (a)(1) The standing 
committees specified in clause 1 shall be elected by the House within 
the seventh calendar day beginning after the commencement of each 
Congress, from nominations submitted by the re



  (2) One-half of the members of the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct shall be from the majority party and one-half shall be from the 
minority party. No Member shall serve as a member of the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct during more than 3 Congresses in any 
period of 5 successive Congresses (disregarding for this purpose any 
service performed as a member of such committee for less than a full 
session in any Congress).

  The old rule entrusting the appointment of committees to the Speaker 
was adopted in 1789 and amended in 1790 and in 1860 (IV, 4448-4476). 
Committees are now elected on resolution offered from the floor (VIII, 
2171) and it is in order to move the previous question on each 
resolution (VIII, 2174). The resolution is not divisible (clause 6 of 
rule XVI), and is privileged (VIII, 2179, 2183). The requirement that 
nominations to standing committees be submitted by the respective party 
caucuses was made part of the rules effective January 3, 1975, by the 
Committee Reform Amendments of 1974 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 
1974, p. 34470). That same resolution also eliminated the designations 
in the rules of the numbers of Members comprising the standing 
committees, thereby permitting the House to establish committee size by 
the numbers of Members elected to each committee pursuant to this 
paragraph. The role of the party caucuses in presenting privileged 
resolutions to the House electing Members to committees is discussed in 
detail in Deschler's Precedents, vol. 4, ch. 17, sec. 9.


[[Page 444]]
tence of subparagraph (2) was added by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 
(P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989).

  The paragraph in this form became effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 
988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). Prior to that date, the rule 
which established the size of the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct at 12 Members also required that six Members be elected from the 
majority and six from the minority party. In the 99th Congress, the 
requirement for early election of standing committees within the first 
seven calendar days and the conferral of privileged status on 
resolutions from the party caucuses to change the composition of 
standing committees were added in subparagraph (1) by section 227 of the 
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-177, 
Dec. 12, 1985). The second sen



Sec. 701b. Party membership as basis for election.

  (b)(1) Membership on standing committees during the course of 
a  Congress 
shall be contingent on continuing membership in the party caucus or 
conference that nominated Members for election to such committees. 
Should a Member cease to be a member of a particular party caucus or 
conference, said Member shall automatically cease to be a member of a 
standing committee to which he was elected on the basis of nomination by 
that caucus or conference. The chairman of the relevant party caucus or 
conference shall notify the Speaker whenever a Member ceases to be a 
member of a party caucus or conference and the Speaker shall notify the 
chairman of each standing committee on which said Member serves, that in 
accord with this rule, the Member's election to such committee is 
automatically vacated.



[[Page 445]]

  (2)(A) No Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may serve 
simultaneously as a member of more than two standing committees or four 
subcommittees of the standing committees of the House, except that ex 
officio service by a chairman and ranking minority member of a committee 
on each of its subcommittees by committee rule shall not be counted 
against the limitation on subcommittee service. Any other exception to 
these limitations must be approved by the House upon the recommendation 
of the respective party caucus or conference. 


  (B) For the purposes of this subparagraph, the term ``subcommittee'' 
includes any panel (other than a special oversight panel of the 
Committee on National Security), task force, special subcommittee, or 
any subunit of a standing committee that is established for a cumulative 
period longer than six months in any Congress.

  The requirement that membership on standing committees be contingent 
on continuing membership in a party caucus or conference, along with the 
mechanism for the automatic vacating of a Member's election to committee 
should his party relationship cease, was added to the rules in the 98th 
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1983, p. 34). In the 104th Congress, 
paragraph (b)(2) was added to limit each Member to two full committee 
assignments and four subcommittee assignments, absent House approval of 
any exception upon recommendation of the respective party caucus (sec. 
204, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----; see H. Res. 11, Jan. 4, 1995, p. 
----).


  The Speaker lays before the House communications relative to the 
removal of a Member from committee pursuant to this clause (Sept. 11, 
1984, p. 24790; Feb. 22, 1989, p. 2500; May 10, 1995, p. ----). The 
earlier practice was, and the most recent practice is, for the minority 
party to handle committee assignments for third-party Members (VIII, 
2184-2185; H. Res. 11, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). During the 102d and 103d 
Congresses, the majority leadership took that responsibility by separate 
resolution for a Member who had joined neither major party caucus (see, 
H. Res. 45, Jan. 24, 1991, p. ----).


[[Page 446]]
the chairman, the Member next in rank in the order named in the 
election of the committee, and so on, as often as the case shall happen, 
shall act as chairman; and in case of a permanent vacancy in the 
chairmanship of any such committee the House shall elect another 
chairman.



Sec. 701c. Committee chairmen.

  (c)  One of the Members of 
each standing committee shall be elected by the House, from nominations 
submitted by the majority party caucus, at the commencement of each 
Congress, as chairman thereof. No Member may serve as the chairman of 
the same standing committee, or as the chairman of the same subcommittee 
thereof, for more than three consecutive Congresses, beginning with the 
One Hundred Fourth Congress (disregarding for this purpose any service 
for less than a full session in any Congress). In the temporary absence 
of 



  The requirement that nominations for chairmen be submitted by the 
majority party caucus was made part of the rules effective January 3, 
1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470). The sentence 
addressing temporary and permanent vacancies in chairmanships was first 
adopted on April 5, 1911 (VIII, 2201), and was continued in the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812). The 104th 
Congress added the sentence setting term limits for committee and 
subcommittee chairmen (sec. 103(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). 
In the 102d Congress a resolution included as a matter properly 
incidental to its election of the chairman of a standing committee a 
proviso that his powers and duties be exercised by the vice chairman 
until otherwise ordered by the House (H. Res. 43, Jan. 24, 1991, p. ----
; Feb. 6, 1991, p. ----).




Sec. 701d. Requirement for subcommittees.

  (d)  No committee 
of the House shall have more than five subcommittees (except the 
Committee on Appropriations, which shall have no more than thirteen; the 
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, which shall have no more 
than seven; and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
which shall have no more than six).



  The present form of this paragraph was adopted in the 104th Congress 
(sec. 101(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----), replacing a requirement 
that all standing committees having more than 20 members (except the 
Committee on the Budget) establish at least four subcommittees (H. Res. 
5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20).



[[Page 447]]

  (e) All vacancies in standing committees shall be filled by election 
by the House from nominations, submitted by the respective party caucus 
or conference.

  This paragraph was first adopted in the 62d Congress (VIII, 2178). At 
the beginning of the 80th Congress it was amended to prevent a Member 
from serving on more than one standing committee, except that Members 
elected to serve on the Committees on District of Columbia or Un-
American Activities (renamed the Committee on Internal Security and 
jurisdiction redefined on Feb. 19, 1969, p. 3723) could be elected to 
serve on not more than two standing committees, and that Members of the 
majority party, serving on the Committee on Expenditures in the 
Executive Departments (changed to Committee on Government Operations 
July 3, 1952, p. 9217) or House Administration could be elected to serve 
on not more than two standing committees. This limitation was continued 
through the 80th, 81st, and part of the 82d Congresses until July 3, 
1952 (p. 9217) when it was modified so that Members elected to serve on 
the Committees on the District of Columbia, Government Operations, Un-
American Activities, or House Administration could be elected to serve 
on not more than two standing committees. It was restored to its 
original form by amendment on January 13, 1953 (pp. 368-69) so that 
there was no limitation in House rules on the number of committees to 
which a Member may be elected until the 104th Congress added paragraph 
(b)(2) (see Sec. 701b, supra). Party caucuses or conferences have also 
placed restrictions on committee assignments. The role of the respective 
party caucus or conference in making nominations to fill vacancies in 
standing committees was made part of the rule in the 98th Congress (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1983, p. 34).


  Form of resolution electing a Member to a committee and fixing his 
rank thereon (Jan. 23, 1947, p. 536; H. Res. 157, May 25, 1995, p. ----
). The House by unanimous consent fixed the relative rank of two Members 
on a committee where an error had been made on the original appointment 
(Jan. 20, 1947, p. 481). The House has filled a vacancy on a standing 
committee (H. Res. 43, Jan. 24, 1991, p. ----) with a Member 
subsequently designated by his party caucus as ``temporary'' (in order 
to avoid caucus limitations on committee assignments) (Feb. 5, 1991, p. 
----).


[[Page 448]]
Members who are primarily responsible for the legislation and shall, to 
the fullest extent feasible, include the principal proponents of the 
major provisions of the bill as it passed the House.



Sec. 701e. Select and conference committees.

  (f)  The Speaker 
shall appoint all select and conference committees which shall be 
ordered by the House from time to time. At any time after an original 
appointment, the Speaker may remove Members or appoint additional 
Members to select and conference committees. In appointing members to 
conference committees the Speaker shall appoint no less than a majority 
of members who generally supported the House position as determined by 
the Speaker. The Speaker shall name 


  The provision of paragraph (f) relating to select committees was 
adopted in 1880, and the provision in that paragraph relating to 
conference committees was first adopted in 1890, although the practice 
of leaving the appointment of conference committees to the Speaker had 
existed from the earliest years of the House's history (IV, 4470; VIII, 
2192).

  Prior to 1880 the House might take from the Speaker the appointment of 
a select committee (IV, 4448, 4470; VIII, 2192) and on several occasions 
did so in fact (IV, 4471-4476).

  In the earlier usage of the House the Member moving a select committee 
was appointed its chairman (II, 1275, III, 2342, IV, 4514-4516); but 
except for matters of ceremony, the inconvenience and even impropriety 
of the usage has caused it often to be disregarded in modern practice 
(IV, 4517-4523, 4671).

  It is within the discretion of the Chair as to whom he appoints as 
conferees (June 24, 1932, p. 13876; July 8, 1947, p. 8469), and a motion 
to instruct the Speaker as to the number and composition of a conference 
committee on the part of the House is not in order (VIII, 2193, 3221). 
The Speaker may fill a vacancy on a conference committee by appointment 
but may not accept a resignation from a conference committee absent an 
order of the House (Nov. 4, 1987, p. 30808).

  Effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 
34470), the Speaker was required to appoint a majority of members who 
generally supported the House position, as determined by him, to all 
conference committees.


[[Page 449]]

  The last sentence of paragraph (f) was added in the 95th Congress (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70). Under that paragraph as amended, the 
Speaker must appoint as conferees Members who are ``primarily 
responsible for the legislation,'' but the exercise of his additional 
discretionary authority under that clause to (1) determine whether a 
majority of the conferees generally supported the House position and (2) 
to appoint to the maximum extent feasible the principal proponents of 
major provisions of the House-passed bill, is not subject to challenge 
on a point of order (Speaker O'Neill, Oct. 12, 1977, pp. 33434-35), and 
is not necessarily affected by a vote on a nonbinding motion to instruct 
House conferees (May 9, 1990, p. ----). On June 21, 1977, Speaker 
O'Neill first exercised his discretionary authority to appoint a 
principal proponent of an adopted floor amendment as an additional 
limited conferee on that issue (p. 20132). 

  The second sentence of paragraph (f), authorizing the Speaker to add 
or remove conferees after his initial appointment, was added in the 103d 
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----).


  The Speaker may appoint conferees from committees (1) which have not 
reported a measure, (2) which have jurisdiction over provisions of a 
non-germane Senate amendment to a House amendment to a Senate bill 
originally narrower in scope (Speaker O'Neill, Nov. 28, 1979, p. 33904), 
or (3) which have jurisdiction over provisions of an original Senate 
bill where the House amendment was narrower in scope (Speaker O'Neill, 
July 28, 1980, p. 19875; July 11, 1985, p. 18545). The Speaker may also 
appoint one who, although not a member of the committee of jurisdiction, 
is a principal proponent of the measure (Speaker Gingrich, Feb. 1, 1995, 
p. ----). The Speaker has appointed as sole conferees on a nongermane 
portion of a Senate bill or amendment only members from the committee 
having jurisdiction over the subject matter thereof (Speaker O'Neill, 
Aug. 27, 1980, pp. 23548-49; July 24, 1986, p. 17644), and also members 
from such committees as additional rather than exclusive conferees on 
other nongermane portions of the Senate bill (July 24, 1986, p. 17644). 
Where a comprehensive matter is committed to conference, the Speaker may 
appoint separate groups of conferees from several committees for 
concurrent or exclusive consideration of provisions within their 
respective jurisdictions (Feb. 7, 1990, p. 1522; May 9, 1990, p. 9830). 
Pursuant to paragraph (f) the Speaker may by the terms of his 
appointment empower a group of exclusive conferees to report in total 
disagreement (June 10, 1988, p. 14077; Sept. 20, 1989, p. 20955). In the 
102d Congress the Speaker reiterated his announced policy of simplifying 
conference appointments by noting on the occasion of a relatively 
complex appointment that, inasmuch as conference committees are ``select 
committees'' that dissolve when their report is acted upon, conference 
appointments should not be construed as jurisdictional precedent 
(Speaker Foley, June 3, 1992, p. ----).


[[Page 450]]
ference shall notify the Speaker whenever a Member ceases to be a 
member of a party caucus or conference and the Speaker shall notify the 
chairman of each select or joint committee on which said Member serves, 
that in accord with this rule, the Member's appointment to such 
committee is automatically vacated.



Sec. 701f. Party membership as basis for 
appointment.

  (g)  Membership on select and joint committees during the 
course of a Congress shall be contingent on continuing membership in the 
party caucus or conference the Member was a member of at the time of his 
appointment to a select or joint committee. Should a Member cease to be 
a member of that caucus or conference, said Member shall automatically 
cease to be a member of any select or joint committee to which he is 
assigned. The chairman of the relevant party caucus or con



  This party membership requirement for select and joint committees 
analogous to paragraph (b) was added in the 98th Congress (H. Res. 5, 
1983, Jan. 3, 1983, p. 34).




Sec. 701g. Delegates and Resident Commissioner.

  (h)  The 
Speaker may appoint the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico and 
Delegates to the House to any select committee and to any conference 
committee.



  Effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 
34470), the Speaker was authorized to appoint the Resident Commissioner 
from Puerto Rico and Delegates to be conferees by the addition of 
paragraph (h); that paragraph was further amended in the 96th Congress 
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16) to authorize the Speaker to appoint 
the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico and Delegates to select 
committees as well, and was further amended in the 103d Congress to 
authorize the Speaker to appoint Delegates and the Resident Commissioner 
to serve at any conference (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----).








[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 451-515]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-95]

[[Page 451]]

 


Sec. 702. Aging.

  A  paragraph (i) of this clause was 
incorporated into the rules effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d 
Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), to provide for a permanent Select 
Committee on Aging appointed by the Speaker pursuant to paragraph (f). 
That provision was stricken in the 103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 
1993, p. ----).



                                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.




[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 515-517]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-96]

 


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



                                Rule XII.


                  RESIDENT COMMISSIONER AND DELEGATES.




Sec. 740. Powers and Privileges of Resident Commissioner and 
Delegates as to committee service.

    The Resident Commissioner to the 
United States from Puerto Rico and each Delegate to the House shall be 
elected to serve on standing committees in the same manner as Members of 
the House and shall possess in such committees the same powers and 
privileges as the other Members.



[[Page 516]]
within which the votes of Delegates and the Resident Commissioner were 
decisive; see Sec. 864b, infra).
  The rule resumed this form in the 104th Congress (sec. 212, H. Res. 6, 
Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). The first form of this rule was adopted in 1871, 
and it was perfected by amendments in 1876, 1880, 1887, 1892 (II, 1297), 
and on January 2, 1947 (Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946), August 
2, 1949 (p. 10618), and February 2, 1951 (p. 883). It was completely 
revised in the 92d Congress to delete references to Delegates from the 
former Territories of Alaska and Hawaii, which had achieved statehood in 
1959, to add a reference to the Delegate from the District of Columbia, 
an office established by Public Law 91-405 (84 Stat. 845), and to 
incorporate the provisions of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 
giving the Resident Commissioner (as well as the new Delegate from the 
District of Columbia) the right to vote in standing committees (H. Res. 
5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). The second clause of the rule was again 
revised in the 93d Congress (H. Res. 6, Jan. 3, 1973, pp. 26-27) to 
reflect the establishment of offices of Delegate from the Territories of 
Guam and the Virgin Islands pursuant to Public Law 92-271 (86 Stat. 
118). The office of Delegate from American Samoa was established by 
Public Law 95-556 (92 Stat. 2078) and was first filled by the general 
Federal election of 1980. The title of the rule was amended in the 102d 
Congress amended to reflect the current membership in the House of the 
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico and all Delegates (H. Res. 5, Jan. 
3, 1991, p. ----). The rule was completely revised again in the 103d 
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----) to provide that each of the 
Delegates and the Resident Commissioner be elected to committees of the 
House on the same bases, vote in any committees on which they serve, and 
vote on questions arising in the Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union. The latter power was affected by clause 2(d) of rule 
XXIII (providing for immediate reconsideration in the House of questions 
resolved in the Committee of the Whole by a margin 

  The constitutionality of granting to Delegates the right to vote in 
the Committee of the Whole under this rule, as circumscribed by former 
clause 2(d) of rule XXIII, was upheld based on the premise that 
immediate ``revote'' where votes cast by Delegates had been decisive 
rendered their votes merely symbolic and not an investment of true 
legislative power (Michel v. Anderson, 14 F.3d 623 (D.C. Cir. 1994)). 
The changes effected in the 103d Congress were revoked in the 104th 
Congress (sec. 212, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

  Under an earlier practice, Delegates did not vote in committee (VI, 
243); but this had not always been so (II, 1301).

  Prior to the 94th Congress, a Delegate or the Resident Commissioner 
could not be appointed as a conferee on bills sent to conference with 
the Senate (Sept. 18, 1973, p. 30144; July 20, 1973, p. 25201), but 
clause 6(h) of rule X, which became effective January 3, 1975, provided 
that the Speaker may appoint the Delegates or the Resident Commissioner 
to any conference committee considering legislation reported from a 
committee on which they serve (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 
34470). Clause 6(h) was further amended in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, 
Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16) to authorize the Speaker to appoint the 
Resident Commissioner and Delegates to any select committee; prior to 
that change they could be appointed to select committees only with the 
permission of the House (Sept. 21, 1976, p. 31673). In the 103d 
Congress, clause 6(h) was once again amended to authorize the Speaker to 
appoint Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to serve on any 
conference committee (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----).

  The Resident Commissioner, who under the rules of the 91st and earlier 
Congresses, was designated as an additional member of the Committees on 
Agriculture, Armed Services, and Interior and Insular Affairs, is now 
elected to committees in the same fashion as are other Members and may 
exercise in those committees on which he serves the same powers as other 
members, including the right to vote.

  The office of Delegate was established by ordinance of the Continental 
Congress and confirmed by a law of Congress (I, 400, 421). The nature of 
the office has been the subject of much discussion (I, 400, 403, 473); 
and except as provided by law (I, 431, 526) the qualifications of the 
Delegate also have been a matter of discussion (I, 421, 423, 469, 470, 
473). A territory or district must be organized by law before the House 
will admit a Delegate (I, 405, 407, 411, 412).


[[Page 517]]
He has been recognized to object to the consideration of a bill (VI, 
241), to a unanimous consent request to concur in a Senate amendment 
(June 29, 1984, p. 20267), and has made reports for committees (July 1, 
1958, p. 12870). The rights and prerogatives of a Delegate in 
parliamentary matters are not limited to legislation affecting his own 
territory (VI, 240).
  The law provides that on the floor of the House a Delegate may debate 
(II, 1290), and he may in debate call a Member to order (II, 1295). He 
may make any motion which a Member may make except the motion to 
reconsider (II, 1291, 1292). A Delegate may make a point of order (VI, 
240). A Delegate has even moved an impeachment (II, 1303). He may be 
appointed a teller (II, 1302); but the law forbids him to vote (II, 
1290). 

  At the organization of the House, the Delegates and Resident 
Commissioner are sworn (I, 400, 401); but the Clerk does not put them on 
the roll (I, 61, 62). In the 103d Congress on recorded votes in the 
Committee of the Whole, their names were listed alphabetically with the 
names of Members (Feb. 3, 1993, p. ----).

  A Delegate resigns in a communication addressed to the Speaker (II, 
1304). He may be arrested and censured for disorderly conduct (II, 
1305), but there has been disagreement as to whether he should be 
expelled by a majority or two-thirds vote (I, 469).

  The privileges of the floor with the right to debate were extended to 
Resident Commissioners in the 60th Congress (VI, 244). Prior to the 
independence of the Philippines it was represented in the House by 
Resident Commissioners.





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 517-525]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-97]

 
  The first form of the rule with reference to the Resident Commissioner 
was adopted in 1904 (II, 1306). The Act of May 17, 1932, changed the 
name of Porto Rico to Puerto Rico (48 U.S.C. 731a).


                               Rule XIII.


                  CALENDARS AND REPORTS OF COMMITTEES.



Sec. 742. Calendar for reports of committees.

  1.  There shall 
be three calendars to which all business reported from committees shall 
be referred, viz.:


  First. A Calendar of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
the Union, to which shall be referred bills raising revenue, general 
appropriation bills, and bills of a public character directly or 
indirectly appropriating money or property.


[[Page 518]]

  Second. A House Calendar, to which shall be referred all bills of a 
public character not raising revenue nor directly or indirectly 
appropriating money or property. 


  Third. A Calendar of the Committee of the Whole House, to which shall 
be referred all bills of a private character.

  This clause was adopted in 1880 and amended in 1911 (VI, 742); but as 
early as 1820 a rule was adopted creating calendars for the Committees 
of the Whole. Bills not requiring consideration in Committee of the 
Whole were considered when reported, but in 1880 the House Calendar was 
created to remedy the delays in making reports caused by such 
consideration (IV, 3115). Reference of bills to calendars is governed by 
text of bills as referred to committees and amendments reported by 
committees are not considered (VIII, 2392).

  A motion to correct an error in referring a bill to the proper 
calendar presents a question of privilege (III, 2614, 2615); but a mere 
clerical error in the calendar does not give rise to such question (III, 
2616). A bill improperly reported is not entitled to a place on the 
calendar (IV, 3117).

  A bill on the wrong calendar may be transferred to the proper calendar 
as of date of original reference by direction of the Speaker (VI, 744-
748; VII, 859, 2406; Dec. 7, 1950, p. 16307; Apr. 26, 1984, p. 10242; 
Sept. 10, 1990, p. ----). But the Speaker has no authority to change 
calendar reference made by the House (VI, 749; VII, 859). Reports from 
the Court of Claims do not remain on the calendar from Congress to 
Congress, even when a law seems so to provide (IV, 3298-3302). In 
determining whether a bill should be placed on the House or Union 
Calendar, clause 3 of rule XXIII should be consulted. The Speaker may 
correct the erroneous referral of a bill as private by referring it to 
the appropriate (Union) calendar as a public bill when reported (June 1, 
1988, p. 13184).


  Although the Speaker has no general authority to remove a reported 
bill from the Union Calendar (other than to correct the erroneous 
reference of a reported bill between Calendars), he may discharge a bill 
therefrom for reference to another committee when required (1) by 
section 401(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, mandating 15-day 
referral to the Committee on Appropriations of reported bills providing 
new entitlement authority in excess of that allocated to the reporting 
committee in connection with the most recently agreed to concurrent 
resolution on the budget (Speaker O'Neill, Sept. 8, 1977, p. 28153), or 
(2) by clause 5 of rule X, authorizing and directing the Speaker to 
assure that each committee has responsibility to consider legislation 
within its jurisdiction by fashioning sequential referrals where 
appropriate (Speaker O'Neill, Apr. 27, 1978, p. 11742; June 19, 1986, p. 
14741).



[[Page 519]]
for printing and reference to the proper calendar under the direction 
of the Speaker, in accordance with the foregoing clause, and the titles 
or subject thereof shall be entered on the Journal and printed in the 
Record: Provided, That bills reported <> adversely shall be laid on the table, unless the committee 
reporting a bill, at the time, or any Member within three days 
thereafter, shall request its reference to the calendar, when it shall 
be referred, as provided in clause 1 of this rule.



Sec. 743. Nonprivileged reports filed with the Clerk.

  2.  All 
reports of committees, except as provided in clause 4(a) of rule XI, 
together with the views of the minority, shall be delivered to the Clerk 


  A technical amendment changing the reference herein to clause 4(a) of 
rule XI (relating to privileged reports), was effected by the 93d 
Congress (H. Res. 988, Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470).

  A resolution of inquiry is referred to the House Calendar even when 
reported adversely (VI, 411).

  Under the provisions of clause 2(l)(6) of rule XI, a measure or matter 
may not be called up for consideration until the third calendar day 
(excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) on which the report 
thereon has been available to the Members of the House. Clause 7 of rule 
XXI places a similar restriction on the consideration of general 
appropriation bills and adds the requirement that printed hearings on 
those bills must be available for the same time period. Expense 
resolutions reported from the Committee on House Oversight have a one-
day layover under clause 5(a) of rule XI; and reports from the Committee 
on Rules may be called up when filed subject to the two-thirds vote 
requirement of clause 4(b) of rule XI, except that under clause 2(l)(6) 
of rule XI reports from the Committee on Rules merely waiving the three 
day availability requirement may be immediately considered and do not 
require a two-thirds vote.

  Unless filed with the report, minority, supplemental or additional 
views may be presented only with the consent of the House (IV, 4600; 
VIII, 2231, 2248). See clause 2(l)(5) of rule XI for the procedure by 
which such views may be filed as part of the committee report.



[[Page 520]]

  A supplemental report to correct a technical error in a committee 
report may be filed without the consent of the House (clause 2(l)(5) of 
rule XI). It has been held that the fact that a report was not printed 
by the Public Printer as originally made to the House does not prevent 
the consideration of the matter reported (VIII, 2307). A committee may 
not file its report on a bill after the House has passed the bill (Sept. 
30, 1985, p. 25270).



Sec. 745. ``Ramseyer Rule.''

  3.  Whenever a committee reports 
a bill or a joint resolution repealing or amending any statute or part 
thereof it shall include in its report or in an accompanying document--


      (1) The text of the statute or part thereof which is proposed to 
be repealed; and


      (2) A comparative print of that part of the bill or joint 
resolution making the amendment and of the statute or part thereof 
proposed to be amended, showing by stricken-through type and italics, 
parallel columns, or other appropriate typographical devices the 
omissions and insertions proposed to be made: Provided, however, That if 
a committee reports such a bill or joint resolution with amendments or 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute for the entire bill, such 
report shall include a comparative print showing any changes in existing 
law proposed by the amendments or substitute instead of as in the bill 
as introduced.

  The first part of this paragraph was adopted January 28, 1929 (VIII, 
2234), was redesignated as subsection (3) January 3, 1953 (p. 24), and 
the proviso was added September 22, 1961 (p. 20823).


[[Page 521]]
them (VIII, 2237, 2245, 2250). A bill having been recommitted for 
failure to conform to the rule, further proceedings are de novo and the 
bill must again be considered and reported by the committee as if no 
previous report had been made (VIII, 2249). Special orders providing for 
consideration of bills, unless specifically waiving points of order, do 
not preclude the point of order that reports on such bills fail to 
indicate proposed changes in existing law (VIII, 2245). The rule applies 
to appropriation bills where such bills include legislative provisions 
(VIII, 2241) and reports on appropriation bills are also subject to the 
requirements of clause 3 of rule XXI, requiring a concise statement of 
the effect of any direct or indirect changes in the application of 
existing law. In order to fall within the purview of the rule the bill 
must seek to repeal or amend specifically an existing law (VIII, 2235, 
2239, 2240). Where the comparative print contained certain errors in 
punctuation and capitalization and utilized abbreviations not appearing 
in existing provisions of law, the Speaker held that the committee 
report was in substantial compliance with the rule and overruled a point 
of order against the report (July 25, 1966, p. 16842; July 30, 1968, pp. 
24252-54). The point of order that a report fails to comply with the 
rule is properly made when the bill is called up in the House and comes 
too late after the House has resolved into the Committee of the Whole 
for its consideration (VIII, 2243-2245).

  Failure of a committee report to comply with the rule may be remedied 
by a supplemental report (VIII, 2247); and while the filing of such a 
corrective report formerly required the consent of the House (VIII, 
2248), it may now be filed with the Clerk pursuant to clause 2(l)(5) of 
rule XI. Although a bill proposes but one minor and obvious change in 
existing law, the failure of the report to indicate the change is in 
violation of the rule (VIII, 2236). The statute proposed to be amended 
must be quoted in the report and it is not sufficient that it is 
incorporated in the bill (VIII, 2238). Under the rule the committee 
report on a bill amending existing law by the addition of a proviso 
should quote in full the section immediately preceding the proposed 
amendment (VIII, 2237). Bills held to be in violation of the rule are 
automatically recommitted to the respective committees reporting 



Sec. 745a. Corrections Calendar.

  4.  (a) After a bill has 
been favorably reported and placed on either the Union or House 
Calendar, the Speaker may, after consultation with the Minority Leader, 
file with the Clerk a notice requesting that such bill also be placed 
upon a special calendar to be known as the ``Corrections Calendar''. On 
the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, after the Pledge of 
Allegiance, the Speaker may direct the Clerk to call the bills in 
numerical order which have been on the Corrections Calendar for three 
legislative days.



[[Page 522]]
ommended by the primary committee of jurisdiction or those offered by 
the chairman of the primary committee, and the previous question shall 
be considered as ordered on the bill and any amendment thereto to final 
passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or 
without instructions.
  (b) A bill so called shall be considered in the House, debatable for 
one hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the primary committee of jurisdiction reporting the 
bill, shall not be subject to amendment except those amendments rec


  (c) A three-fifths vote of the members voting shall be required to 
pass any bill called from the Corrections Calendar but the rejection of 
any such bill, or the sustaining of any point of order against it or its 
consideration, shall not cause it to be removed from the Calendar to 
which it was originally referred.



Sec. 746. Former Consent Calendar.

  This clause was amended in the 104th Congress to abolish the Consent 
Calendar and establish in its place a Corrections Calendar (H. Res. 168, 
June 20, 1995, p. ----). The original clause, providing for the former 
Consent Calendar, was adopted March 15, 1909, amended January 18, 1924; 
December 7, 1925; December 8, 1931; and April 23, 1932 (VII, 
972).  Bills must have been 
on the printed calendar three legislative working days in order to be 
eligible for consideration (VII, 992, 994). When a House bill was on the 
Consent Calendar, by unanimous consent the House committee could have 
been discharged from the consideration of a Senate bill on the same 
subject, and the Senate bill considered in lieu of the House bill (VII, 
1004). The status of bills on the Consent Calendar was not affected by 
their consideration from another calendar and such bills could have been 
called up for consideration from the Consent Calendar while pending as 
unfinished business in the House or Committee of the Whole (VII, 1006).



[[Page 523]]
report before directing the call of the Consent Calendar (May 4, 1970, 
pp. 13991-95).

  The former rule did not preclude the Speaker from recognizing Members 
to suspend the rules before completion of the Consent Calendar (decided 
by House, VIII, 3405; also held by Speaker Clark, Oct. 5, 1914, p. 
16182, and by Speaker Gillett, Sept. 4, 1919, p. 5128). Recognition to 
suspend the rules did not preclude the continuation of the call of the 
calendar later in the day (VII, 991). The call of the Consent Calendar 
on days devoted to its consideration took precedence of the motion to go 
into the Committee of the Whole to consider revenue or appropriation 
bills (VII, 986), and a contested-election case could not supplant the 
call of the Calendar (VII, 988), but the Speaker could recognize a 
Member to call up a conference 




Sec. 747. Motion to discharge.

  5.  There shall also be a 
Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees, as provided in clause 3 of 
rule XXVII.



<>   6. Calendars shall be printed 
daily.

  The discharge rule was redesignated as clause 3 of rule XXVII in the 
102d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). A conforming change in 
this clause was adopted in the 103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, 
p. ----).


  This clause was adopted in the 62d Congress, April 5, 1911 (VI, 743), 
and amended December 8, 1931, pp. 10, 83.



Sec. 748b. Estimate of cost.

  7.  (a) The report accompanying 
each bill or joint resolution of a public character reported by any 
committee shall contain--


      (1) an estimate, made by such committee, of the costs which would 
be incurred in carrying out such bill or joint resolution in the fiscal 
year in which it is reported and in each of the five fiscal years 
following such fiscal year (or for the authorized duration of any 
program authorized by such bill or joint resolution, if less than five 
years);

      (2) a comparison of the estimate of costs described in 
subparagraph (1) of this paragraph made by such committee with any 
estimate of such costs made by any Government agency and submitted to 
such committee; and


[[Page 524]]

      (3) when practicable, a comparison of the total estimated funding 
level for the relevant program (or programs) with the appropriate levels 
under current law. 

  (b) It shall not be in order to consider any such bill or joint 
resolution in the House if the report of the committee which reported 
that bill or joint resolution does not comply with paragraph (a) of this 
clause.

  (c) For the purposes of subparagraph (2) of paragraph (a) of this 
clause, 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.


  (d) The preceding provisions of this clause do not apply to the 
Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on House Oversight, the 
Committee on Rules, and the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, 
and do not apply where a cost estimate and comparison prepared by the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 403 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 has been timely submitted prior to the 
filing of the report and included in the report pursuant to clause 
2(l)(3)(C) of rule XI.


[[Page 525]]
the new name of the Committee on House Oversight (sec. 202(b), H. Res. 
6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

  This clause was adopted in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, 
p. 144) as part of the implementation of section 252(b) of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140) and was amended 
in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70) to remove 
references to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. Paragraph (d) was 
amended in the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 98-113) to 
render committee cost estimates optional where an estimate by the 
Congressional Budget Office is included in the report. Paragraph (a) was 
amended by the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-508, Nov. 5, 
1990) to require 5-year estimates of revenue changes in legislative 
reports. In the 104th Congress paragraph (a) was amended 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(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). At the same 
time paragraph (d) was amended to reflect 





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 525-541]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-98]

 


Sec. 748c. 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 the Director 
of the Congressional Budget Office and on committees of the House 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, and 
Sec. 713h, supra.



                                Rule XIV.


                         OF DECORUM AND DEBATE.


[[Page 526]]
of the Senate, or other quotations from Senate proceedings.



Sec. 749. Obtaining the floor for debate; and relevancy and 
decorum therein.

  1.  When any Member desires to speak or deliver any 
matter to the House, he shall rise and respectfully address himself to 
``Mr. Speaker'', and, on being recognized, may address the House from 
any place on the floor or from the Clerk's desk, and shall confine 
himself to the question under debate, avoiding personality. Debate may 
include references to actions taken by the Senate or by committees 
thereof which are a matter of public record, references to the pendency 
or sponsorship in the Senate of bills, resolutions, and amendments, 
factual descriptions relating to Senate action or inaction concerning a 
measure then under debate in the House, and quotations from Senate 
proceedings on a measure then under debate in the House and which are 
relevant to the making of legislative history establishing the meaning 
of that measure, but may not include characterizations of Senate action 
or inaction, other references to individual Members 


  This clause was adopted in 1880, but was made up, in its main 
provisions, from older rules, which dated from 1789 and 1811 (V, 4979). 
The last sentence of the clause, relating to references to the Senate, 
had its origins in the 100th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1987, p. 6) 
but was amended in the 101st Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1989, p. 72) 
to narrowly expand the range of permissible references. This rule, and 
rulings of the Chair with respect to references in debate to the Senate, 
are discussed in Sec. 371, supra; see also Sec. 361, supra.

  The Speaker, who has a responsibility under rule I to maintain and 
enforce decorum in debate, has reminded and advised Members that (1) 
clause 1 of rule XIV requires Members seeking recognition to rise and to 
address themselves to the question under debate, avoiding personality; 
(2) Members should address their remarks to the Chair only and not to 
other entities such as the ``press'' or the television audience; (3) 
Members should not refer to or address any occupant of the galleries; 
(4) Members should refer to other Members in debate only in the third 
person, by state designation (Speaker O'Neill, June 14, 1978, p. 17615; 
Oct. 2, 1984, p. 28520; Mar. 7, 1985, p. 5028); (5) Members should 
refrain from references in debate to the official conduct of other 
Members where such conduct is not under consideration in the House by 
way of a report of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct or a 
question of the privilege of the House (July 24, 1990, p. ----; Mar. 19, 
1992, p. ----; May 25, 1995, p. ----); (6) Members should refrain from 
references in debate to the motivations of Members who file complaints 
before the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (Speaker pro 
tempore Foley, June 15, 1988, p. 14623; July 6, 1988, p. 16630; Mar. 22, 
1989, p. 5130; May 2, 1989, p. 7735; Nov. 3, 1989, p. ----); (7) Members 
should refrain from using profanity or vulgarity in debate (Mar. 5, 
1991, p. ----; Feb. 18, 1993, p. ----); (8) Members should refrain from 
speaking disrespectfully of the Speaker, and under the precedents the 
sanctions for such violations transcend the ordinary requirements for 
timeliness of challenges (II, 1248; Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----; Jan. 19, 
1995, p. ----), and it is not in order to arraign the personal conduct 
of the Speaker (Jan. 18, 1995, p. ----; Jan. 19, 1995, p. ----); (9) the 
Chair may interrupt a Member engaging in ``personalities'' with respect 
to a fellow Member of the House, just as he would with respect to 
references to the Senate or the President (Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----); and 
(10) Members should refrain from discussing the President's personal 
character (May 10, 1994, p. ----).


[[Page 527]]
may not include critical characterizations of members of the Committee 
on Standards of Official Conduct who have investigated a Member's 
conduct (Apr. 1, 1992, p. ----; Mar. 3, 1995, p. ----), nor may it 
include references to investigations undertaken by the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct, including suggestions of courses of 
action (Mar. 3, 1995, p. ----), or references to similar conduct of 
another not then the subject of a question pending before the House 
(Apr. 1, 1992, p. ----).
  Although debate on a privileged resolution recommending disciplinary 
action against a Member may include comparisons with other such actions 
taken by or reported to the House for purposes of measuring severity of 
punishment, it is not in order to discuss the conduct of another Member 
not the subject of a committee report (Dec. 18, 1987, p. 36271). Debate 

  The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole has reminded Members that 
remarks in debate should be addressed to the Chairman, and not to 
Members or others not present in the Chamber (Apr. 5, 1979, p. 7356), 
and reminded Members that references to other Members may not be by 
familiar name but must be in the third person, by state designation 
(July 21, 1982, pp. 17314, 17315). Although remarks in debate may not 
include personal attacks against a Member or an identifiable group of 
Members, they may address political motivations for legislative 
positions (Jan. 24, 1995, p. ----; Mar. 8, 1995, p. ----). Even if 
remarks critical of the Speaker are delivered in debate while he is not 
occupying the Chair, they should be addressed to ``Mr. Speaker'' 
pursuant to this rule (Nov. 1, 1983, p. 30267). It is not in order to 
address remarks to the ``television'' or to anyone, including Members 
not present, viewing televised House proceedings, and the Chair enforces 
this rule on his or her own initiative (Nov. 8, 1979, p. 31519; Sept. 
29, 1983, p. 26501; Aug. 2, 1984, p. 22271; Oct. 9, 1985, p. 26961; June 
3, 1987, p. 14524; July 23, 1987, p. 20849; Dec. 17, 1987, p. 36139). 
The tendency to address remarks directly to the President (or others not 
in the Chamber) in the second person has been deplored by the Speaker, 
and he cautions Members on his own initiative (Oct. 16, 1989, p. 24715; 
Oct. 17, 1989, p. 24764; Jan. 24, 1990, p. 426; Oct. 9, 1991, p. ----). 
This clause has also been interpreted to proscribe the wearing of badges 
by Members to communicate a message, since Members must rise and address 
the Speaker to deliver any matter to the House (Speaker O'Neill, Apr. 
15, 1986, p. 7525; Feb. 22, 1995, p. ----; Mar. 29, 1995, p. ----). A 
Member's comportment may constitute a breach of decorum even though the 
content of that Member's speech is not, itself, unparliamentary (July 
29, 1994, p. ----).

  It is a general rule that a motion must be made before a Member may 
proceed in debate (V, 4984, 4985), and this motion may be required to be 
reduced to writing (V, 4986). A motion must also be stated by the 
Speaker or read by the Clerk before debate may begin (V, 4982, 4983, 
5304). The withdrawal of a motion precludes further debate on it (V, 
4989). But sometimes when a communication or a report has been before 
the House it has been debated before any specific motion has been made 
in relation to it (V, 4987, 4988). In a few cases, such as conference 
reports and reports from the Committee of the Whole, the motion to agree 
is considered as pending without being offered from the floor (IV, 4896; 
V, 6517).


[[Page 528]]
not the rule in presenting a case involving the privileges of the House 
(III, 2546, 2547; VI, 565, 566, 580). Personal explanations merely are 
made by unanimous consent (V, 5065).
  In presenting a question of personal privilege the Member is not 
required in the first instance to make a motion or offer a resolution, 
but such is 



Sec. 750. Interruption of a Member in debate.

  A  Member 
having the floor may not be taken off his feet by an ordinary motion, 
even the highly privileged motion to adjourn (V, 5369, 5370; VIII, 
2646), or the motion to table (Mar. 18, 1992, p. ----). He may not be 
deprived of the floor by a parliamentary inquiry (VIII, 2455-2458), a 
question of privilege (V, 5002; VIII, 2459), a motion that the committee 
rise (VIII, 2325), or a demand for the previous question (VIII, 2609; 
Mar. 18, 1992, p. ----), but he may be interrupted for a conference 
report (V, 6451; VIII, 3294). It is a custom also for the Speaker to 
request a Member to yield for the reception of a message. A Member may 
yield the floor for a motion to adjourn or that the Committee of the 
Whole rise without losing his right to continue when the subject is 
again continued (V, 5009-5013), but where the House has by resolution 
vested control of general debate in the Committee of the Whole in 
designated Members, their control of general debate may not be abrogated 
by another Member moving to rise, unless they yield for that purpose 
(May 25, 1967, p. 14121). A Member may also resume his seat while a 
paper is being read in his time without losing his right to the floor 
(V, 5015). A Member who, having the floor, moved the previous question 
was permitted to resume the floor on withdrawing the motion (V, 5474). 
But a Member may not yield to another Member to offer an amendment 
without losing the floor (V, 5021, 5030, 5031; VIII, 2476), and a Member 
may not offer an amendment in time secured for debate only (VIII, 2474), 
or request unanimous consent to offer an amendment unless yielded to for 
that purpose by the Member controlling the floor (Sept. 24, 1986, p. 
25589). A Member recognized under the five-minute rule in the Committee 
of the Whole may not yield to another Member to offer an amendment, as 
it is within the power of the Chair to recognize each Member to offer 
amendments (Apr. 19, 1973, p. 13240; Dec. 12, 1973, p. 41171). A Member 
desiring to interrupt another in debate should address the Chair for 
permission of the Member speaking (V, 5006; VI, 193), but the latter may 
exercise his own discretion as to whether or not he will yield (V, 5007, 
5008; VI, 193; VIII, 2463, 2465). It is not in order to disrupt a 
Member's remarks in debate by repeatedly interrupting to ask whether he 
will yield after he has declined to do so (Apr. 9, 1992, p. ----); and 
the remarks of an interrupting Member do not appear in the Record 
because they were not uttered under recognition (July 21, 1993, p. ----
).



[[Page 529]]
1371; III, 1950; V, 6097). In more recent years, Speakers have 
frequently entered into debate on substantive legislative issues before 
the House for decision, and the right to participate in debate in the 
Committee of the Whole is without question (see, e.g., Apr. 30, 1987, p. 
10811).


Sec. 751. Speaker in debate.

  The  Speaker may of right speak 
from the Chair on questions of order and be first heard (II, 1367), but 
with this exception he may speak from the Chair only by leave of the 
House and on questions of fact (II, 1367-1372). On occasions 
comparatively rare Speakers have called Members to the Chair and 
participated in debate on questions of order or matters relating their 
own conduct or rights, usually without asking consent of the House (II, 
1367, 1368, 




Sec. 752. Member must confine himself to the subject.

  It  has 
always been held, and generally quite strictly, that in the House the 
Member must confine himself to the subject under debate (V, 5043-5048; 
VI, 576; VIII, 2481, 2534). Debate on a motion to amend must be confined 
to the amendment, and may neither include the general merits of the bill 
(V, 5049-5051), nor range to the merits of a proposition not included in 
the underlying resolution (Jan. 31, 1995, p. ----). On a motion to 
suspend the rules, debate is confined to the object of the motion and 
may not range to the merits of a bill not scheduled for such 
consideration (Nov. 23, 1991, p. ----). However, debate on a special 
order providing for the consideration of a bill may range to the merits 
of the bill to be made in order (Sept. 26, 1989, p. 21532; Oct. 16, 
1990, p. ----; Oct. 1, 1991, p. ----), since the question of 
consideration of the bill is involved, but should not range to the 
merits of a measure not to be considered under that special order (Sept. 
27, 1990, p. ----). The Chair normally waits for the question of 
relevancy of debate to be raised and does not take initiative (Sept. 27, 
1990, p. ----; Mar. 23, 1995, p. ----). If a unanimous consent request 
for a Member to address the House for one hour specifies the subject of 
the address, the occupant of the Chair during that speech may enforce 
the rule of relevancy in debate by requiring that the remarks be 
confined to the subject so specified (Jan. 23, 1984, p. 93). Debate on a 
question of personal privilege must be confined to the statements or 
issue which gave rise to the question of privilege (V, 5075-5077; VI, 
576, 608; VIII, 2448, 2481; May 31, 1984, p. 14623). Debate on a 
privileged resolution recommending disciplinary action against a Member, 
while it may include comparisons with other such actions taken by or 
reported to the House for purposes of measuring severity of punishment, 
may not extend to the conduct of another Member not the subject of a 
committee report (Dec. 18, 1987, p. 36271). The question whether a 
Member should be relieved from committee service is debatable only 
within very narrow limits (IV, 4510; June 16, 1975, p. 19056). Debate on 
a resolution electing a Member to a committee is confined to the 
election of that Member and should not extend to that committee's agenda 
(July 10, 1995, p. ----).


  While the Speakers have entertained appeals from their decisions as to 
irrelevancy, they have held that such appeals were not debatable (V, 
5056-5063).


[[Page 530]]
must relate to an issue in the pending portion of the bill; thus, where 
a general provisions title is pending debate may relate to any agency 
funded by the bill (June 13, 1991, p. ----).

<>   2. When two or 
more Members rise at once, the Speaker shall name the Member who is 
first to speak; * * *

  In Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union during 
general debate the Member need not confine himself to the subject (V, 
5233-5238; VIII, 2590; June 28, 1974, p. 21743); but this privilege does 
not extend to the Committee of the Whole House (V, 5239; VIII, 2590). 
All five-minute debate in Committee of the Whole is confined to the 
subject (V, 5240-5256), even on a pro forma amendment (VIII, 2591), in 
which case debate 

  This clause was adopted in 1789 (V, 4978).


--  Recognition <> for one-minute speeches by unanimous consent and the order 
of recognition are entirely within the discretion of the Speaker (Nov. 
15, 1983, p. 32657). When the House has a heavy legislative schedule, 
the Speaker may refuse to recognize Members for that purpose until the 
completion of legislative business (Procedure, ch. 21, sec. 7.5; July 
24, 1980, p. 19386). It is not in order to raise as a question of the 
privileges of the House a resolution directing the Speaker to recognize 
for such speeches, since a question of privilege cannot amend or 
interpret the rules of the House (July 25, 1980, pp. 19762-64).
  In the early history of the House, when business proceeded on 
presentation by individual Members, the Speaker recognized the Member 
who arose first; and in case of doubt there was an appeal from his 
recognition (II, 1429-1434). But as the membership and business of the 
House increased it became necessary to establish and adhere to a fixed 
order of business, and recognitions, instead of pertaining to the 
individual Member, necessarily came to pertain to the bill or other 
business which would be before the House under the rule regulating the 
order of business. Hence the necessity that the Speaker should not be 
compelled to heed the claims of Members as individuals was expressed in 
1879 in a report from the Committee on Rules, which declared that ``in 
the nature of the case discretion must be lodged with the presiding 
officer'' (II, 1424). And in 1881 the Speaker declined to entertain an 
appeal from his decision on a question of recognition (II, 1425-1428), 
establishing thereby a practice which continues (VI, 292; VIII, 2429, 
2646, 2762). It has also been determined that a Member may not invoke 
rule XXV (Sec. 900, infra), providing that questions relating to the 
priority of business shall be decided by a majority without debate, to 
inhibit the Speaker's power of recognition under this clause (Speaker 
Albert, July 31, 1975, p. 26249).


[[Page 531]]
p. 7406). From August 8, 1984, through February 23, 1994, the Speaker 
also followed an announced policy of recognizing Members of the same 
party within a given category in the order in which their requests for 
special orders were granted (Speaker O'Neill, Aug. 8, 1984, p. 22963; 
Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----). But since February 24, 1994, the Speaker's 
announced policies for recognition for special order speeches has been 
as follows: (1) recognition does not extend beyond midnight; (2) 
recognition is granted first for speeches of five minutes or less; (3) 
recognition for longer speeches is limited (except on Tuesdays) to four 
hours equally divided between the majority and minority; (4) the first 
hour for each party is reserved to its respective Leader or his 
designees; (5) time within each party is allotted in accord with a list 
submitted to the Chair by the respective Leader; (6) the first 
recognition within a category alternates between the parties from day to 
day, regardless of when requests were granted; (7) Members may not enter 
requests for five-minute special orders earlier than one week in 
advance; and (8) the respective Leaders may establish additional 
guidelines for entering requests (Feb. 11, 1994, p. ----; May 23, 1994, 
p. ----; June 10, 1994, p. ----; Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----; Feb. 16, 1995, 
p. ----; May 12, 1995, p. ----).
  Since the 98th Congress the Speaker has followed announced policies of 
(1) alternating recognition for one-minute speeches and special-order 
speeches between majority and minority Members and (2) recognizing for 
special-order speeches of five minutes or less before longer speeches 
(Speaker O'Neill, Aug. 8, 1984, p. 22963; Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). In the 
101st Congress, the Chair continued the practice of alternating 
recognition for one-minute speeches but began a practice of recognizing 
Members suggested by their party leadership before others in the well 
(Apr. 19, 1990, 


-  Beginning <> in the second 
session of the 103d Congress, the House has by unanimous consent agreed 
(without prejudice to the Speaker's ultimate power of recognition under 
this rule) to convene 90 minutes early on Mondays and Tuesdays for 
morning-hour debate (Feb. 11, 1994, p. ----; May 23, 1994, p. ----; June 
8, 1994, p. ----; June 10, 1994, p. ----; Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----; Feb. 
16, 1995, p. ----). On May 12, 1995, the House extended and modified the 
above order to accommodate earlier convening times after May 14 of each 
year. The modified order changes morning hour debates on Tuesdays after 
May 14 of each year as follows: (1) the House convenes one hour early 
(rather than 90 minutes); (2) time for debate is limited to 25 minutes 
for each Party (rather than 30 minutes); and (3) in no event is morning 
hour debate to continue beyond 10 minutes before the House is to convene 
(May 12, 1995, p. ----). The above-cited orders of the House also: (1) 
postpone the Prayer, approval of the Journal, and the Pledge of 
Allegiance during morning hour debates; and (2) require the Chair to 
recognize Members for not more than five minutes each, alternating 
between the majority and minority parties in accord with lists supplied 
by their respective Lead

[[Page 532]]
ers. During morning hour debate it is not in order to request that a 
name be removed from a list of cosponsors of a bill (Apr. 26, 1994, p. 
----).

  While the Chair's calculation of time consumed under one-minute 
speeches is not subject to challenge, the Chair endeavors to recognize 
Majority and then Minority Members by allocating time in a non-partisan 
manner (Aug. 4, 1982, p. 19319). Prior to legislative business, the 
Speaker will traditionally recognize a Member only once by unanimous 
consent for a one-minute speech, and will not entertain a second request 
(May 1, 1985, p. 9995). The Chair will not entertain a unanimous consent 
request to extend a five-minute special order (Mar. 7, 1995, p. ----).




Sec. 753c. ``Oxford'' style debates.

  In  the 103d Congress 
the House agreed by unanimous consent to conduct at a time designated by 
the Speaker structured debate on a mutually agreeable topic announced by 
the Speaker, with four participants from each party in a format 
announced by the Speaker (Feb. 11, 1994, p. ----; Mar. 11, 1994, p. ----
; May 23, 1994, p. ----; June 8, 1994, p. ----; June 10, 1994, p. ----). 
Pursuant to that authority the House conducted three ``Oxford''-style 
debates (Mar. 16, 1994, p. ----; May 4, 1994, p. ----; July 20, 1994, p. 
----). As a precursor to those structured debates, special-order time 
was used for a ``Lincoln-Douglas'' style debate involving five Members, 
with one Member acting as ``moderator'' by controlling the hour under 
this clause (Nov. 3, 1993, p. ----).



[[Page 533]]
recognized to call up a measure in the House has priority of 
recognition to move the previous question thereon, even over the 
chairman of the committee reporting that measure (Oct. 1, 1986, p. 
27468). The fact that a Member has the floor on one matter does not 
necessarily entitle him to prior recognition on a motion relating to 
another matter (II, 1464). It is because the Speaker is governed by 
these usages that he often asks, when a Member seeks recognition, ``For 
what purpose does the gentleman rise?''. By this question he determines 
whether the Member proposes business or a motion which is entitled to 
precedence and he may deny recognition (VI, 289-291, 293; Aug. 13, 1982, 
pp. 20969, 20975-78; Speaker Wright, Feb. 17, 1988, p. 1583; Feb. 27, 
1992, p. ----) and from such denial there is no appeal (II, 1425; VI, 
292; VIII, 2429, 2646, 2762; Feb. 27, 1992, p. ----). Recognition for 
parliamentary inquiry lies in the discretion of the Chair (VI, 541), who 
may take a parliamentary inquiry under advisement (VIII, 2174), 
especially where not related to the pending proceedings (Apr. 7, 1992, 
p. ----).


Sec. 754. Speaker governed by usage in 
recognitions.

  Although  there is no appeal from the Speaker's recognition, he is 
not a free agent in determining who is to have the floor. The practice 
of the House establishes rules from which he may not depart. When the 
order of business brings before the House a certain bill he must first 
recognize, for motions for its disposition, the Member who represents 
the committee which has reported it (II, 1447; VI, 306, 514). This is 
not necessarily the chairman of the committee, for a chairman who, in 
committee, has opposed the bill, must yield the prior recognition to a 
member of his committee who has favored the bill (II, 1449). Usually, 
however, the chairman has charge of the bill and is entitled at all 
stages to prior recognition for allowable motions intended to expedite 
it (II, 1452, 1457; VI, 296, 300). This principle does not, however, 
apply to the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole (II, 1453). The 
Member who originally introduces the bill which a committee reports has 
no claims to recognition as opposed to the claims of the members of the 
committee, but in cases where a proposition is brought directly before 
the House by a Member the mover is entitled to prior recognition for 
motions and debate (II, 1446, 1454; VI, 302-305, 417; VIII, 2454, 3231). 
And this principle applies to the makers of certain motions. Thus, the 
Member on whose motion the enacting clause of a bill is stricken out in 
Committee of the Whole is entitled to prior recognition when the bill is 
reported to the House (V, 5337; VIII, 2629), and in a case where a 
Member raised an objection in the joint session to count the electoral 
vote the Speaker recognized him first when the Houses had separated to 
consider the objection (III, 1956). But a Member may not, by offering a 
debatable motion of higher privilege than the pending motion, deprive 
the Member in charge of the bill of possession of the floor for debate 
(II, 1460-1463; VI, 290, 297-299; VIII, 2454, 3193, 3197, 3259). The 
Member in charge of the bill and having the floor may demand the 
previous question, although another Member may propose to offer a motion 
of higher privilege (VIII, 2684); but the motion of higher privilege 
must be put before the previous question (V, 5480; VIII, 2684). The 
Member who has been 




Sec. 755. Loss of right to recognition by Member in 
charge.

  When  an essential motion made by the Member in charge of the bill 
is decided adversely the right to prior recognition passes to the Member 
leading the opposition to the motion (II, 1465-1468; VI, 308). The 
control of the measure passes under this principle when the House 
disagrees to the recommendation of the committee reporting the bill (II, 
1469-1472), when the Committee of the Whole reports a bill adversely 
(IV, 4897; VIII, 2430), when the motion for the previous question is 
rejected (VI, 308), subject to the motion of the Member who led the 
opposition to the previous question being preempted by a motion of 
higher precedence (Aug. 13, 1982, pp. 20969, 20975-78), and in most 
cases, when the House refuses to order the previous question on a 
conference report and then rejects the report (II, 1473-1477; V, 6396). 
But the mere defeat of an amendment proposed by the Member in charge 
does not cause right to prior recognition to pass to the opponents (II, 
1478, 1479), and the invalidation of a conference report on a point of 
order, while equivalent to its rejection by the House, does not give the 
Member raising the question of order the right to the floor (VIII, 3284) 
and exerts no effect on the right to recognition (VI, 313). Rejection of 
a conference report after the previous question has been ordered thereon 
does not cause recognition to pass to a Member opposed to the report, 
and the manager retains control to offer the initial motion to dispose 
of amendments in disagreement (Speaker Albert, May 1, 1975, p. 12761).



[[Page 534]]



Sec. 756. Prior right of Members of the committee to 
recognition for debate.

  In  debate the members of the committee--except 
the Committee of the Whole (II, 1453)--are entitled to priority of 
recognition for debate (II, 1438, 1448; VI, 306, 307), but a motion to 
lay a proposition on the table is in order before the Member entitled to 
prior recognition for debate has begun his remarks (V, 5391-5395; VI, 
412; VIII, 2649, 2650). 


  In recognizing for general debate under general House rules the Chair 
alternates between those favoring and those opposing the pending matter, 
preferring members of the committee reporting the bill (II, 1439-1444). 
When a member of a committee has occupied the floor in favor of a 
measure the Chair attempts to recognize a Member opposing next, even 
though he be not a member of the committee (II, 1445). The principle of 
alternation is not insisted on rigidly where a limited time is 
controlled by Members, as in the ``forty minutes'' of debate on motions 
for suspension of the rules and the previous question (II, 1442).



[[Page 535]]



Sec. 757. Exceptions to the usages constraining the Speaker 
as to recognitions.

  As  to motions to suspend the rules, which are in 
order on Mondays and Tuesdays of each week, the Speaker exercises a 
discretion to decline to recognize (V, 6791-6794, 6845; VIII, 3402-
3404). He also may decline to recognize a Member who desires to ask 
unanimous consent to set aside the rules in order to consider a bill not 
other-wise in order, this being the way of signifying his objection to 
the request. But this authority does not extend to proceedings under 
clause 4 of rule XIII. The Speaker has announced and enforced a policy 
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 (Dec. 15, 1981, p. 31590; May 4, 1982, p. 8613; Nov. 16, 1983, 
p. 33138; Jan. 25, 1984, p. 354; Jan. 26, 1984, p. 449; Jan. 31, 1984, 
p. 1063; Oct. 2, 1984, p. 28516; Feb. 4, 1987, p. 2675; Jan. 3, 1989, p. 
89; Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----; Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----; Apr. 4, 1995, p. ----
). In the 103d Congress this policy was extended to reported bills (July 
23, 1993, p. ----). The Speaker's enforcement of this policy is not 
subject to appeal (Apr. 4, 1995, p. ----). ``Floor leadership'' in this 
context has been construed to apply only to the Minority Leader and not 
to the entire hierarchy of minority leadership, where the Chair had been 
assured that the Minority Leader had been consulted (Apr. 25, 1985, p. 
9415). This policy applies (1) to requests to immediately consider 
matters (separately unreported) comprising a portion of a measure 
already passed by the House (Dec. 19, 1985, p. 38356); (2) to requests 
to consider a motion to suspend the rules and pass an unreported bill 
(on a non-suspension day) (Aug. 12, 1986, p. 21126); (3) to requests to 
permit consideration of (nongermane) amendments to bills (Nov. 14, 1991, 
p. ----); and (4) to requests to permit expedited consideration of 
measures on subsequent days, as by waiving the requirement that a bill 
be referred to committee for 30 legislative days before a motion to 
discharge may be presented under clause 3 of rule XXVII (June 5, 1992, 
p. ----). With respect to unanimous consent requests to dispose of 
Senate amendments to House bills on the Speaker's table, the Chair will 
entertain such a request only if made by the chairman of the committee 
with jurisdiction, or by another committee member authorized to make the 
request (Apr. 26, 1984, p. 10194; Feb. 4, 1987, p. 2675; Deschler's 
Precedents, vol. 6, ch. 21, sec. 1.23).





Sec. 758. The hour rule in debate.

  2.  * * * and no Member 
shall occupy more than one hour in debate on any question in the House 
or in committee, except as further provided in this rule.


  This clause dates from 1841, when the increase of membership had made 
it necessary to prevent the making of long speeches which sometimes 
occupied three or four hours each (V, 4978).

  It applies to debate on a question of privilege, as well as to debate 
on other questions (V, 4990; VIII, 2448); and when the time of debate 
has been placed within the control of those representing the two sides 
of a question it must be assigned to Members in accordance with this 
rule (V, 5004, 5005; VIII, 2462). Under this clause a Member recognized 
for one hour for a ``special order'' speech in the House may not extend 
that time, even by unanimous consent (July 12, 1971, pp. 24594, 24603; 
Feb. 9, 1966, p. 2794). In the 104th Congress the Speaker announced his 
intention to strictly enforce time limitations on debate (Jan. 5, 1995, 
p. ----).


  For a discussion of ``morning-hour debates'' and ``Oxford'' style 
debates, see Secs. 753b-c, supra.




Sec. 759. The opening and closing of general debate.

  3.  The 
Member reporting the measure under consideration from a committee may 
open and close, where general debate has been had thereon; and if it 
shall extend beyond one day, he shall be entitled to one hour to close, 
notwithstanding he may have used an hour in opening.


  This clause was adopted in 1847 and perfected in 1880 (V, 4996).


  In the later practice this right to close may not be exercised after 
the previous question is ordered (V, 4997-5000). This clause applies to 
general debate in Committee of the Whole (Mar. 26, 1985, p. 6283).


[[Page 536]]
Member called to order, he shall be at liberty to proceed, but not 
otherwise; and, if the case requires it, he shall be liable to censure 
or such punishment as the House may deem proper.



Sec. 760. The call to order.

  4.  If any Member, in speaking 
or otherwise, transgress the rules of the House, the Speaker shall, or 
any Member may, call him to order; in which case he shall immediately 
sit down, unless permitted, on motion of another Member, to explain, and 
the House shall, if appealed to, decide on the case without debate; if 
the decision is in favor of the 


  This clause was adopted in 1789, and amended in 1822 and 1880 (V, 
5175).


[[Page 537]]

  Members transgressing the rules shall be called to order by the 
Speaker (VIII, 2481, 2521, 3479) or any Member (II, 1344; V, 5154, 5161-
5163, 5175, 5192); and unanimous consent is not required for a Member to 
withdraw his demand that another Member's words be taken down, prior to 
a ruling by the Chair (June 18, 1986, p. 14232); but except for naming 
him the Speaker may not otherwise censure or punish him (II, 1345; VI, 
237). A Delegate may call a Member to order (II, 1295). It is the duty 
of the Speaker to call to order a Member who criticizes the actions of 
the Senate, its Members or committees, in debate or through an insertion 
in the Record (Speaker Albert, Apr. 17, 1975, p. 10458; Oct. 7, 1975, p. 
32055), and the Speaker may deny an offending Member further recognition 
subject to permission of the House to proceed in order (Speaker O'Neill, 
June 16, 1982, p. 13843). The Chair may take the initiative to call to 
order a Member engaging in or tending toward personalities in debate, 
for example, allegations of unethical conduct by other Members not 
reported by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (June 29, 
1987, p. 18072); or to call to order a Member engaging in verbal 
outburst following expiration of his recognition for debate (Mar. 16, 
1988, p. 4081). The Speaker may admonish a Member for words spoken in 
debate and request that they be removed from the Record even prior to a 
demand by another that they be taken down (Sept. 24, 1992, p. ----). In 
the 104th Congress the Speaker announced that the Chair may interrupt a 
Member engaging in ``personalities'' with respect to a fellow Member of 
the House, just as he would with respect to references to the Senate or 
the President (Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). Where words are taken down and 
ruled out of order by the Chair, the motion to strike or expunge the 
words from the Record has precedence (VIII, 2538-2541; Aug. 21, 1974, 
pp. 29652-53), is often undertaken by the Chair on his own initiative 
(May 10, 1990, p. 9992), and is debatable within narrow limits (VIII, 
2539; Speaker Martin, June 12, 1947, p. 6896), but the motion to expunge 
or strike may not be made in Committee of the Whole (Feb. 18, 1941, p. 
1126) and may not be made by the Member called to order (Feb. 11, 1941, 
pp. 894, 899), although the Member called to order may withdraw his 
words by unanimous consent (VIII, 2528, 2538, 2543, 2544). Where a 
Member interrupts another during debate without being yielded or 
otherwise recognized (as on a point of order) his remarks are not 
printed in the Record (Speaker O'Neill, Feb. 7, 1985, p. 2229; July 29, 
1994, p. ----). 

  When a Member is called to order under this rule it is the practice to 
test the opinion of the House by a motion ``that the gentleman be 
allowed to proceed in order'' (V, 5188, 5189; VIII, 2534; May 10, 1990, 
p. 9992), which may be stated on the initiative of the Chair (Oct. 8, 
1991, p. ----; Mar. 29, 1995, p. ----), is debatable within narrow 
limits of relevance under the hour rule, and is consequently also 
subject to the motion to lay on the table (Speaker Foley, Oct. 8, 1991, 
p. ----). The motion is not inconsistent with the immediate consequence 
of the call to order, since clause 4 also permits the House to determine 
the extent of the sanction for a given breach (Oct. 10, 1991, p. ----). 
The rule permits a motion that the offending Member be permitted to 
explain before the Speaker rules on the words taken down, and the 
Speaker has in his discretion asked for explanation before ruling on the 
words (Feb. 1, 1940, p. 954). But the Speaker has recognized the 
offending Member by unanimous consent to explain words ruled out of 
order (Nov. 10, 1971, pp. 40442-43). A Member called to order must be 
seated immediately (July 29, 1994, p. ----; Jan. 25, 1995, p. ----). If 
held to be out of order, the Member loses the floor (V, 5196-5199; Jan. 
25, 1995, p. ----) and may not proceed on the same day without the 
permission of the House (Jan. 29, 1946, p. 533; Aug. 21, 1974, pp. 
29652-53; Jan. 25, 1995, p. ----), even on yielded time (V, 5147), and 
may not insert unspoken remarks in the Record (Jan. 25, 1995, p. ----). 
However, this does not prevent the offending Member from exercising his 
right to vote or to demand the yeas and nays (VIII, 2546).

  The House has censured Members for disorderly words (II, 1253, 1254, 
1259, 1305; VI, 236). A Member's comportment may constitute a breach of 
decorum even though the content of that Member's speech is not, itself, 
unparliamentary (July 29, 1994, p. ----).


  The display of exhibits, demonstrations, or other unusual adjuncts to 
debate by way of illustration is subject to the will of the House and 
any Member may object (VIII, 2452), and where objection is made the 
question is put to the House without debate (June 21, 1937, p. 6104). 
See also Sec. 915, infra.



[[Page 538]]



Sec. 761. Words taken down.

  5.  If a Member is called to 
order for words spoken in debate, the Member calling him to order shall 
indicate the words excepted to, and they shall be taken down in writing 
at the Clerk's desk and read aloud to the House; but he shall not be 
held to answer, nor be subject to the censure of the House therefor, if 
further debate or other business has intervened.


  This clause was adopted in 1837, with amendment in 1880, but the 
practice of writing down objectionable words had been established in 
1808. The rule was adopted to prevent the taking down of words after 
intervening business (V, 5177; VIII, 2536), but a Member on his feet and 
requesting recognition at the time may be recognized to demand that 
words be taken down even though brief debate has intervened, and a 
request that a Member uttering objectionable words yield does not 
forfeit the right to demand that the words be taken down (VIII, 2528). 
The Chair's determination whether a Member's point of order (that 
remarks just spoken in debate impugn another Member's motives) 
constitutes a demand that those words be taken down is not such 
intervening debate or business as to render the demand untimely (Oct. 2, 
1984, p. 28522).

  The words having been read from the desk, the Chair decides whether 
they are in order (II, 1249; V, 5163, 5169, 5187), as read by the Clerk 
and not as alleged to have been uttered (June 9, 1992, p. ----). The 
House may by proper motions under clauses 4 and 5 of this rule dictate 
the consequences of the Chair's ruling the words out of order (May 26, 
1983, p. 14048). When a Member denies that the words taken down are the 
exact words used by himself, the question as to the words is put to the 
House for decision (V, 5179, 5180).

  When the disorderly words are spoken in the Committee of the Whole, 
they are taken down as in the House and read at the Clerk's desk, and 
the Committee rises automatically (VIII, 2533, 2538, 2539) and reports 
them to the House (II, 1257-1259, 1348). Action in the House on words 
taken down and reported from Committee of the Whole is limited to the 
words reported (VIII, 2528); and it is not in order as a question of 
privilege in the House to propose censure of a Member for disorderly 
words spoken in Committee of the Whole but not taken down or reported 
therefrom (V, 5202). Words so taken down may be withdrawn only by 
unanimous consent (VIII, 2528, 2538, 2540, 2543, 2544). Consideration of 
words reported to the House from Committee of the Whole having been 
disposed of, either by decision of the Speaker holding them in order or 
by action of the House if held unparliamentary, the Committee resumes 
its sitting without motion (VIII, 2539, 2541).



[[Page 539]]

  In certain exceptional cases, as when disorderly words are part of an 
occurrence constituting a breach of privilege (II, 1657), or when a 
Member's language has been investigated by a committee (II, 1655), or 
when he has reiterated on the floor certain published charges (III, 
2637), or when he has uttered words alleged to be treasonable (II, 
1252), or when he has uttered an attack on the Speaker (II, 1248; Jan. 
4, 1995, p. ----; Jan. 19, 1995, p. ----), the House may proceed to 
censure or other action although business may have intervened.




Sec. 762. Member to speak but once to the same question; 
right to close controlled debate.

  6.  No Member shall speak more than 
once to the same question without leave of the House, unless he be the 
mover, proposer, or introducer of the matter pending, in which case he 
shall be permitted to speak in reply, but not until every Member 
choosing to speak shall have spoken.


  This clause was adopted in 1789, and amended in 1840 (V, 4991).

  A Member who has spoken once to the main question may speak again to 
an amendment (V, 4993, 4994). It is too late to make the point that a 
Member has spoken already if no one claims the floor until he has made 
some progress in his speech (V, 4992). This clause is often 
circumscribed by special orders of business that vest control of debate 
in designated Members and permit them to yield more than once to other 
Members. For a discussion of the right of a Member to speak more than 
once under the five-minute rule, see Sec. 873, infra. The right to close 
may not be exercised after the previous question has been ordered (V, 
4997-5000). The right to close does not belong to a Member who has 
merely moved to reconsider the vote on a bill which he did not report 
(V, 4995). The right of a contestant in an election case to close when 
he is permitted to speak in the contest has been a matter of discussion 
(V, 5001).

  Ordinarily the manager of a bill or other representative of the 
committee position and not the proponent of an amendment has the right 
to close debate on an amendment on which debate has been limited and 
allocated under the five-minute rule in Committee of the Whole (VIII, 
2581; July 16, 1981, p. 16043; Apr. 4, 1984, p. 7841; June 5, 1985, p. 
14302; July 10, 1985, p. 18496; Oct. 24, 1985, p. 28824; May 2, 1988, p. 
9638; May 5, 1988, pp. 9961-62), including the minority manager (June 
29, 1984, p. 20253; Aug. 14, 1986, p. 21660; July 26, 1989, p. 16403). 
Where the pending text includes a provision recommended by a committee 
of sequential referral, a member of that committee is entitled to close 
debate against an amendment thereto (June 15, 1989, pp. 12084-87). By 
recommending an amendment in the nature of a substitute, a reporting 
committee implicitly opposes a further amendment that could have been 
included therein, such that a committee representative who controls time 
in opposition may close debate thereon (June 4, 1992, pp. ---- and ----; 
June 13, 1995, p. ----).


[[Page 540]]
(Mar. 9, 1995, p. ----); or where an unreported measure is being 
considered and there is no ``manager'' under the terms of a special rule 
(Apr. 24, 1985, p. 9206).

  Under certain circumstances, however, the proponent of the amendment 
may close debate, as where he represents the reporting committee 
position (Aug. 14, 1986, p. 21718); where no committee representative 
opposes the amendment (Aug. 15, 1986, p. 22057); where no representative 
from the reporting committee opposes an amendment to a multi-
jurisdictional bill 




Sec. 763. Decorum of Members in the Hall.

  7.  While the 
Speaker is putting a question or addressing the House no Member shall 
walk out of or across the hall, nor, when a Member is speaking, pass 
between him and the Chair; and during the session of the House no Member 
shall wear his hat, or remain by the Clerk's desk during the call of the 
roll or the counting of ballots, or smoke upon the floor of the House; 
and the Sergeant-at-Arms is charged with the strict enforcement of this 
clause. Neither shall any person be allowed to smoke or to use any 
personal, electronic office equipment (including cellular phones and 
computers) upon the floor of the House at any time.



[[Page 541]]
rail (Feb. 23, 1995, p. ----). On the opening day of the 101st 
Congress, the Speaker prefaced his customary announcement of policies 
concerning such aspects of the legislative process as recognition for 
unanimous consent requests and privileges of the floor with a general 
statement concerning decorum in the House, including particular 
adjurations against engaging in personalities, addressing remarks to 
spectators, and passing in front of the Member addressing the Chair 
(Jan. 3, 1989, p. 88; see also Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----; Jan. 4, 1995, p. 
----). In the 104th Congress the Speaker announced that Members should 
not traffic the well of the House when another Member is speaking (Feb. 
3, 1995, p. ----; Mar. 3, 1995, p. ----).

  Until the 104th Congress this clause was made up of provisions adopted 
in 1789, 1837, 1871, and 1896. In the 104th Congress a reference to the 
former Doorkeeper was deleted and the prohibition against using personal 
electronic office equipment was added (H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----
). The prohibition was affirmed by response to a parliamentary inquiry 
(Feb. 23, 1995, p. ----). Originally Members wore their hats during 
sessions, as in Parliament, and the custom was not abolished until 1837 
(II, 1136). In the 103d Congress the Speaker announced that the 
prohibition against Members wearing hats included doffing the hat in 
tribute to a group (Speaker Foley, June 22, 1993, p. ----). In the 96th 
Congress, the Speaker announced that he considered as proper the 
customary and traditional attire for Members, including a coat and tie 
for male Members and appropriate attire for female Members (where 
thermostat controls had been raised in the summer to conserve energy); 
the House then adopted a resolution, offered as a question of the 
privileges of the House, requiring Members to wear proper attire as 
determined by the Speaker, and denying non-complying Members the 
privilege of the floor (July 17, 1979, pp. 19008, 19073). In the 97th 
Congress, the Speaker announced during a vote by electronic device that 
Members were not permitted under the traditions of the House to wear 
overcoats on the House floor (Dec. 16, 1981, p. 31847). Smoking is not 
permitted in the Hall during sessions of the House (Oct. 15, 1990, p. --
--), nor during sittings of the Committee of the Whole (Aug. 14, 1986, 
p. 21707); and the prohibition extends to smoking behind the 




Sec. 764. Gallery occupants not to be introduced.

  8.  It 
shall not be in order for any Member to introduce to or to bring to the 
attention of the House during its sessions any occupant in the galleries 
of the House; nor may the Speaker entertain a request for the suspension 
of this rule by unanimous consent or otherwise.



  This clause was adopted April 10, 1933 (VI, 197).



Sec. 764a. Revisions of remarks in debate.

  9. (a)  The 
Congressional Record shall be a substantially verbatim account of 
remarks made during the proceedings of the House, subject only to 
technical, grammatical, and typographical corrections authorized by the 
Member making the remarks involved.


  (b) Unparliamentary remarks may be deleted only by permission or order 
of the House.




Sec. 764b. Standard of conduct.

  (c)  This clause establishes 
a standard of conduct within the meaning of clause 4(e)(1)(B) of rule X.








[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 542-558]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-99]

[[Page 542]]

 
  This clause was adopted in the 104th Congress (sec. 213, H. Res. 6, 
Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). Under clause 9(a) a unanimous consent request to 
revise and extend remarks permits a Member (1) to make technical, 
grammatical, and typographical corrections to remarks uttered and (2) to 
include in the Record additional remarks not uttered to appear in a 
distinctive typeface (Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). Clause 9(a) also applies 
to statements and rulings of the Chair (Jan. 20, 1995, p. ----). 


                                Rule XV.


                     ON CALLS OF THE ROLL AND HOUSE.




Sec. 765. Call of the roll for the yeaandnay 
vote.

  1.  Subject to clause 5 of this rule, upon every roll call the names 
of the Members shall be called alphabetically by surname, except when 
two or more have the same surname, in which case the name of the State 
shall be added; and if there be two such Members from the same State, 
the whole name shall be called, and after the roll has been once called, 
the Clerk shall call in their alphabetical order the names of those not 
voting. Members appearing after the second call, but before the result 
is announced, may vote or announce a pair.


  The first form of this clause was adopted in 1789, and amendments were 
added in 1870, 1880, 1890 (V, 6046), 1969 (H. Res. 7, 91st Cong., Jan. 
3, 1969, p. 35), and 1972 (H. Res. 1123, 92d Cong., Oct. 13, 1972, p. 
36005-012). The final amendment, which became effective immediately 
prior to noon on January 3, 1973, introduced the concept and use of the 
electronic voting system into the provisions of rule XV.

  The names of Members who have not been sworn are not entered on the 
roll from which the yeas and nays are called for entry on the Journal 
(V, 6048; VI, 638; VIII, 3122).



[[Page 543]]

  Commencing in 1879 the Clerk, in calling the roll, called Members by 
the surnames with the prefix ``Mr.'' instead of calling the full names 
(V, 6047), but since the 62d Congress the practice has been discontinued 
in the interest of brevity (VIII, 3121). The Speaker's name is not on 
the voting roll and is not ordinarily called (V, 5970). When he votes 
his name is called at the close of the roll (V, 5965). In case of a tie 
which is revealed by a correction of the roll, he has voted after 
intervening business or even on another day (V, 5969, 6061-6063; VIII, 
3075). Where the Speaker through an error of the Clerk in reporting the 
yeas and nays announces a result different from that actually had, the 
status of the question is governed by the vote as recorded and 
subsequent announcement by the Speaker of the changed result is 
authoritative, or he may entertain a motion for correction of the 
Journal in accordance with the vote as finally ascertained (VIII, 3162). 

  Under this rule, as under clause 4 of rule XV, the roll is called 
twice, and those Members appearing after their names are called but 
before the announcement of the result may vote or announce a pair. Under 
the former practice, prior to the amendment adopted on January 3, 1969, 
a Member who had failed to respond on either the first or second call of 
the roll could not be recorded before the announcement of the result (V, 
6066-6070; VIII, 3134-3150) unless he ``qualified'' by declaring that he 
had been within the Hall, listening, when his name should have been 
called and failed to hear it (V, 6071-6072; VIII, 3144-3150), and then 
only on the theory that his name may have been inadvertently omitted by 
the Clerk (VIII, 3137). Under the former practice where the roll was 
called by the Clerk, either before announcement of the result (V, 6064) 
or after such announcement (VIII, 3125), the Speaker could order the 
vote recapitulated (V, 6049, 6050; VIII, 3128). A Member may not change 
his vote on recapitulation if the result has been announced (VIII, 
3124), but errors in the record of such votes may be corrected (VIII, 
3125). A motion that a vote be recapitulated is not privileged (VIII, 
3126). The Speaker has declined to order a recapitulation of a vote 
taken by electronic device (Speaker Albert, July 30, 1975, p. 25841).



Sec. 765a. Bell system.

  The  legislative call system was 
designed to alert Members to certain occurrences on the floor of the 
House. The Speaker has directed that the bells and lights comprising the 
system be utilized as follows (Jan. 23, 1979, pp. 701-02):


  Tellers--one ring and one light on left. Since teller votes were 
discontinued at the beginning of the 103d Congress, this signal is no 
longer utilized.

  Recorded vote, yeas and nays, or automatic rollcall vote taken either 
by electronic system or by use of tellers with ballot cards--two bells 
and two lights on left indicate a vote in House or in Committee of the 
Whole by which Members are recorded by name. Bells are repeated five 
minutes after the first ring. When by unanimous consent waiving the 
five-minute minimum set by clause 5(b)(3) of rule I the House authorized 
the Speaker to put remaining postponed questions to two-minute 
electronic votes, two bells were rung (Oct. 4, 1988, pp. 28126, 28148).

  Recorded vote, yeas and nays, or automatic rollcall electronic vote on 
recommittal to be immediately followed by possible five-minute vote on 
final passage (clause 5 of rule XV)--two bells rung at beginning of 
motion to recommit, followed by five bells, indicate that Chair will 
order five-minute votes if recorded vote, yeas and nays, or automatic 
vote is ordered immediately thereafter on final passage or adoption. Two 
bells repeated five minutes after first ring.


[[Page 544]]
nays, or automatic vote is ordered on additional amendments on which 
separate votes have been demanded. Two bells repeated five minutes after 
first ring. Five bells on each subsequent amendment if roll call 
ordered.
  Recorded vote, yeas and nays, or automatic rollcall electronic vote on 
the first of several amendments reported to the House from the Committee 
of the Whole (clause 5 of rule XV)--two bells rung at beginning of first 
amendment on which separate vote is demanded, followed by five bells, 
indicate that Chair will order five-minute vote if recorded vote, yeas 
and 

  Recorded vote, yeas and nays, or automatic roll call by call of the 
roll--two bells, followed by a brief pause, then two bells indicate such 
a vote taken under the provisions of clause 1 of rule XV by a call of 
the roll in the House. The bells are repeated when the Clerk reaches the 
``R's'' in the first call of the roll.

  Regular quorum call--three bells and three lights on left indicate a 
quorum call either in the House or in Committee of the Whole by 
electronic system or by clerks. The bells are repeated five minutes 
after the first ring. Where quorum call is by call of the roll, three 
bells followed by a brief pause, then three more bells, with the process 
repeated when the Clerk reaches the ``R's'' in the first call of the 
roll, are utilized.

  Regular quorum call in Committee of the Whole, which will possibly be 
immediately followed by five-minute electronic recorded vote (clause 2 
of rule XXIII)--three bells rung at beginning of quorum call, followed 
by five bells, indicate that Chair will order five-minute vote if 
recorded vote is ordered on pending question. Three bells repeated five 
minutes after first ring.

  Notice or short quorum call in Committee of the Whole--one long bell 
followed by three regular bells, and three lights on left, indicate that 
the Chair has exercised his discretion under clause 2 of rule XXIII and 
will vacate proceedings when a quorum of the Committee appears. Bells 
are repeated every five minutes unless (a) the call is vacated by 
ringing of one long bell and extinguishing of three lights, or (b) the 
call is converted into a regular quorum call and three regular bells are 
rung.

  Adjournment--four bells and four lights on left.

  Any five-minute vote--five bells and five lights on left.

  Postponed votes on (a) motions to suspend the rules; (b) final votes 
on bills, resolutions, or conference reports; or (c) previous question 
on questions that are, themselves, susceptible of postponement (clause 
5(b) of rule I)--two bells, followed by five bells, indicate start of 
15-minute vote on first postponed question in each such series. Two 
bells repeated five minutes after first ring. Five bells on all 
subsequent five-minute votes in each series on which Speaker has reduced 
vote time.

  Recess of the House--six bells and six lights on left.

  Civil Defense Warning--twelve bells, sounded at two-second intervals, 
with six lights illuminated.

  The light on the far right--seven--indicates that the House is in 
session.


[[Page 545]]

  Failure of the signal bells to announce a vote does not warrant 
repetition of the roll call (VIII, 3153-3155, 3157) nor does such a 
failure permit a Member to be recorded following the conclusion of the 
call (June 9, 1938, p. 8662).



Sec. 766. Changes and corrections of votes.

  Before  the 
result of a vote has been finally and conclusively pronounced by the 
Chair, but not thereafter, a Member may change his vote (V, 5931-5933, 
6093, 6094; VIII, 3070, 3123, 3124, 3160), and a Member who has answered 
``present'' may change it to ``yea'' or ``nay'' (V, 6060). But a vote 
given by a Member may not be withdrawn without leave of the House (V, 
5930).


  When a vote actually given fails to be recorded during a call of the 
roll (V, 6061-6063) the Member may, before the approval of the Journal, 
demand as a matter of right that correction be made (V, 5969; VIII, 
3143). But statements of other Members as to alleged errors in a 
recorded vote must be very definite and positive to justify the Speaker 
in ordering a change of the roll (V, 6064, 6099). The Speaker declines 
to entertain requests to correct the Journal and Record on votes taken 
by electronic device, based upon the technical accuracy of the 
electronic system if properly utilized and upon the responsibility of 
each Member to correctly cast and verify his vote (Apr. 18, 1973, p. 
13081; May 10, 1973, p. 15282). By unanimous consent the House may 
vacate proceedings on a recorded vote conducted in the Committee of the 
Whole and require a vote de novo where it is alleged that Members were 
improperly prevented from being recorded (June 22, 1995, p. ----).




Sec. 767. Interruptions of the roll call.

  When  once begun 
the roll call may not be interrupted even by a motion to adjourn (V, 
6053; VIII, 3133), a parliamentary inquiry (VIII, 3132), a question of 
personal privilege (V, 6058, 6059; VI, 554, 564), the arrival of the 
time fixed for another order of business (V, 6056) or for a recess (V, 
6054, 6055; VIII, 3133), or the presentation of a conference report (V, 
6443). But it is interrupted for the reception of messages and by the 
arrival of the hour fixed for adjournment sine die (V, 6715-6718). 
Incidental questions arising during the roll call, such as the refusal 
of a Member to vote (V, 5946-5948), are considered after the completion 
of the call and the announcement of the vote (V, 5947). The rules do not 
preclude a Member from announcing after a recorded vote on which he 
failed to answer, how he would have voted if present (Speaker Rayburn, 
June 27, 1957, p. 10521; contra VIII, 3151), but neither the rules nor 
the practice permit a Member to announce after a recorded vote how 
absent colleagues would have voted if present (VI, 200; Apr. 3, 1933, p. 
1139; Apr. 28, 1933, p. 2587; May 20, 1933, p. 3834; Mar. 16, 1934, pp. 
4691, 4700; Apr. 14, 1937, pp. 3489, 3490; Apr. 15, 1937, p. 3563).



[[Page 546]]
subject to clause 6(e)(2) of this rule, be sent for and arrested, 
wherever they may be found, by officers to be appointed by the Sergeant-
at-Arms for that purpose, and their attendance secured and retained; and 
the House shall determine upon what condition they shall be discharged. 
Members who voluntarily appear shall, unless the House otherwise direct, 
be immediately admitted to the Hall of the House, and they shall report 
their names to the Clerk to be entered upon the Journal as present.



Sec. 768. The call of the House.

  2.  (a) In the absence of a 
quorum, fifteen Members, including the Speaker, if there is one, shall 
be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members; and those for 
whom no sufficient excuse is made may, by order of a majority of those 
present, 


  The essential portions of paragraph (a) of this clause were adopted in 
1789 and 1795, with minor amendments in 1888, 1890 (IV, 2982) and 1971 
(H. Res. 5, 92d Cong., Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). Later in the 92d Congress 
several provisions in rule XV, including this clause, were amended to 
reflect the implementation of the electronic voting system (H. Res. 
1123, Oct. 13, 1972, p. 36005-012). The provisions of clause 2(a) 
relating to the calling of the roll by the Clerk were deleted. Calls of 
the House are now taken by the electronic device unless the Speaker, in 
his discretion (see clause 5) orders the use of the alternative 
procedure in clause 2(b). Together with clause 6(e)(2) of this rule, 
this paragraph was further amended in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 
15, 1979, pp. 7-16) to conform to the requirement in that provision that 
further proceedings under the call shall be dispensed with unless the 
Speaker in his discretion recognizes for a call of the House or a motion 
to compel attendance under this paragraph. This clause must be read in 
light of clause 6(e) of this rule, which prohibits the point of order 
that a quorum is not present unless the Speaker has put a question to a 
vote.



Sec. 769. Ordering and conducting the call.

  Under  this rule 
a call may not be ordered by less than 15, and with out that number 
present the motion for a call is not entertained (IV, 2983). It must be 
ordered by majority vote, and a minority of 15 or more favoring a call 
on such vote is not sufficient (IV, 2984). A quorum not being present no 
motion is in order but for a call of the House or to adjourn (IV, 2950, 
2988; VI, 680), and at this stage the motion to adjourn has precedence 
over the motion for a call of the House (VIII, 2642).



[[Page 547]]
manded (IV, 2933). But during proceedings under the call the roll may 
be ordered to be called again by those present (IV, 2991).
  While the following precedents predate the use of the electronic 
voting and recording system, they are retained in the Manual because of 
their general applicability with respect to calls of the House. A roll 
call under paragraph (a) may not be interrupted by a motion to dispense 
with further proceedings under the call (IV, 2992), and a recapitulation 
of the names of those who appear after their names have been called may 
not be de

  During a call less than a quorum may revoke leaves of absence (IV, 
3003, 3004) and excuse a Member from attendance (IV, 3000, 3001), but 
may not grant leaves of absence (IV, 3002). The roll is sometimes called 
for excuses, and motions to excuse are in order during this call (IV, 
2997), but neither the motion to excuse nor an incidental appeal are 
debatable (IV, 2999). After the roll has been called for excuses, and 
the House has ordered the arrest of those who are unexcused, a motion to 
excuse an absentee is in order when he is brought to the bar (IV, 3012).



Sec. 770. Arrest of Members.

  An  order of arrest for absent 
Members may be made after a single-calling of the roll (IV, 3015, 3016), 
and a warrant issues on direction of those present, such motion having 
precedence of a motion to dispense with proceedings under the call (IV, 
3036). The Sergeant-at-Arms is required to arrest Members wherever they 
may be found (IV, 3017), and leave for a committee to sit during 
sessions does not release its Members from liability to arrest (IV, 
3020). A motion to require the Sergeant-at-Arms to report progress in 
securing a quorum is in order during a call of the House (VI, 687). A 
Member who appears and answers is not subject to arrest (IV, 3019), and 
in a case where a Member complained of wrongful arrest the House ordered 
the Sergeant-at-Arms to investigate and amend the return of his warrant 
(IV, 3021). A Member once arrested having escaped it was held that he 
might not be brought back on the same warrant (IV, 3022). A privileged 
motion to compel the attendance of absent Members is in order after the 
Chair has announced that a quorum has not responded on a negative 
recorded vote on a motion to adjourn (Nov. 2, 1987, p. 30386).


  The former practice of presenting Members at the bar during a call of 
the House (IV, 3030-3035) is obsolete, and Members now report to the 
Clerk and are recorded without being formally excused unless brought in 
under compulsion (VI, 684). Those present on a call may prescribe a fine 
as a condition of discharge, and the House has by resolution revoked all 
leaves of absence and directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to deduct from the 
salary of Members compensation for days absent without leave (VI, 30, 
198), but this penalty has been of rare occurrence (IV, 3013, 3014, 
3025). Form of resolution for the arrest of Members absent without leave 
(VI, 686). Having rejected a motion to adjourn, less than a quorum of 
the House rejected a motion directing the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest 
absent Members, rejected a second motion to adjourn, and then adopted a 
motion authorizing the Speaker to compel the attendance of absent 
members (Nov. 2, 1987, p. 30387).


[[Page 548]]
able nor subject to amendment, thus the motion to lay it on the table 
is not in order (Aug. 27, 1962, p. 17653; Dec. 18, 1970, pp. 42504-05).
  The motion to dispense with further proceedings under the call of the 
House is not in order when a motion to arrest absent Members is pending 
(IV, 3029, 3037); is not entertained until a quorum responds on the 
call, but may be agreed to by less than a quorum thereafter (IV, 3038, 
3040; VI, 689; Sept. 11, 1968, p. 26453; Dec. 22, 1970, p. 43311); is 
neither debat




Sec. 771a. Motions during a call.

  During  the call, which in 
later practice has been invoked only in absence of a quorum, incidental 
motions may be agreed to by less than a quorum (IV, 2994, 3029; VI, 
681), and under clause 6(a)(4) of rule XV a point of order of no quorum 
may not be made during the offering, consideration, and disposition of 
any motion incidental to a call of the House. This includes motions for 
the previous question (V, 5458), to reconsider and to lay the motion to 
reconsider on the table (V, 5607, 5608), to adjourn, which is in order 
even in the midst of the call of the roll for excuses (IV, 2998) or 
while the House is dividing on a motion for a call of the House (VIII, 
2644), and which takes precedence over a motion to dispense with further 
proceedings under the call (VIII, 2643), and an appeal from a decision 
of the Chair (IV, 3010, 3037; VI, 681). The yeas and nays may also be 
ordered (IV, 3010), but a question of privilege may not be raised unless 
it be something connected immediately with the proceedings (III, 2545). 
Motions not strictly incidental to the call are not admitted, as for a 
recess (IV, 2995, 2996), to excuse a Member from voting even when 
otherwise in order (IV, 3007), to enforce the statute relating to 
deductions of pay of Members for absence (IV, 3011; VI, 682), to 
construe a rule or make a new rule (IV, 3008), or to order a change of a 
Journal record (IV, 3009). A motion for a call of the House is not 
debatable (VI, 683, 688). The motion to compel the attendance of absent 
Members, being neither debatable nor amendable, is not subject to a 
motion to lay on the table (Speaker Wright, Nov. 2, 1987, p. 30389).





Sec. 771b. Quorum call by clerks.

  (b)  Subject to clause 5 of 
this rule, when a call of the House in the absence of a quorum is 
ordered, the Speaker shall name one or more clerks to tell the Members 
who are present. The names of those present shall be recorded by such 
clerks, and shall be entered in the Journal and the absentees noted, but 
the doors shall not be closed except when so ordered by the Speaker. 
Members shall have not less than fifteen minutes from the ordering of a 
call of the House to have their presence recorded.



[[Page 549]]
procedure in lieu of using the electronic system, or the Chair may, in 
his discretion, direct that a quorum call be taken by an alphabetical 
call of the roll (Mar. 7, 1973, p. 6699). The Chairman of the Committee 
of the Whole also may direct that a quorum call be conducted by 
depositing quorum tally cards with clerk tellers, rather than by 
electronic device or a call of the roll (July 13, 1983, p. 18858).

  This paragraph was adopted as part of the general revision of rule XV 
which was required by the implementation of the electronic voting system 
(H. Res. 1123, 92d Cong., Oct. 13, 1972, p. 36012). The Speaker, in his 
discretion, may direct that the presence of Members be recorded by this 




Sec. 772. Count of those not voting to make a quorum of 
record on a roll call.

  3.  On the demand of any Member, or at the 
suggestion of the Speaker, the names of Members sufficient to make a 
quorum in the Hall of the House who do not vote shall be noted by the 
Clerk and recorded in the Journal, and reported to the Speaker with the 
names of the Members voting, and be counted and announced in determining 
the presence of a quorum to do business.



  This clause was adopted in 1890 (IV, 2905), but it merely formalized a 
principle already established by a decision of the Chair (IV, 2895). It 
was much in use in the first years after its adoption (III, 2620; IV, 
2905-2907); but with the decline of obstruction in the House and the 
adoption of clause 4 of this rule the necessity for its use has 
disappeared to a large extent. The Speaker may direct the Clerk to note 
names of Members under this rule even on a vote for which a quorum is 
not necessary (VIII, 3152).


[[Page 550]]
the House, whereupon he shall be noted as present, discharged from 
arrest, and given an opportunity to vote and his vote shall be recorded. 
If those voting on the question and those who are present and decline to 
vote shall together make a majority of the House, the Speaker shall 
declare that a quorum is constituted, and the pending question shall be 
decided as the majority of those voting shall appear. And thereupon 
further proceedings under the call shall be considered as dispensed 
with. At any time after the roll call has been completed, the Speaker 
may entertain a motion to adjourn, if seconded by a majority of those 
present, to be ascertained by actual count by the Speaker; and if the 
House adjourns, all proceedings under this section shall be vacated.



Sec. 773. The call of the House in the new form.

  4.  Subject 
to clause 5 of this rule, whenever a quorum fails to vote on any 
question, and a quorum is not present and objection is made for that 
cause, unless the House shall adjourn there shall be a call of the 
House, and the Sergeant-at-Arms shall forthwith proceed to bring in 
absent Members, and the yeas and nays on the pending question shall at 
the same time be considered as ordered. The Clerk shall call the roll, 
and each Member as he answers to his name may vote on the pending 
question, and, after the roll call is completed, each Member arrested 
shall be brought by the Sergeant-at-Arms before 


  This clause was adopted in 1896 (IV, 3041; VI, 690); and amended in 
1972 to make its provisions subject to clause 5 of this rule (H. Res. 
1123, 92d Cong., p. 36012). Where objection is raised to a vote in the 
House on the ground that a quorum is not present, and a quorum is in 
fact not present, the Speaker may direct that the call of the House be 
taken by electronic device under clause 5, or may, in his discretion, 
direct the Clerk to call the roll pursuant to this clause (May 16, 1973, 
p. 15860).

  It applies only to votes wherein a quorum is required, and hence does 
not apply to an affirmative vote on a motion to adjourn (July 25, 1949, 
p. 10092; Nov. 4, 1983, p. 30946), or motions incidental to a call of 
the House which may be agreed to by less than a quorum (IV, 2994, 3029; 
VI, 681), or to a call when there is no question pending (IV, 2990). 
While a quorum is not required to adjourn, a point of no quorum on a 
negative vote on adjournment, if sustained, precipitates a call of the 
House under the rule (VI, 700; June 4, 1951, pp. 6097, 6098; June 15, 
1951, p. 6621). Where less than a quorum rejects a motion to adjourn, 
the House may not consider business but may dispose of motions to compel 
the attendance of absent Members (Nov. 2, 1987, p. 30387).


[[Page 551]]
(Sept. 30, 1981, p. 22456). Where the Speaker ascertains the presence 
of a quorum by actual count following an objection to a vote under this 
clause, or on a rejected demand for the yeas and nays and a division 
vote is then had on the pending question, the division vote is 
intervening business (see VIII, 2804) permitting another objection to 
the lack of a quorum, and the Speaker must again count the House (Mar. 
17, 1976, p. 6792; Aug. 2, 1979, p. 22006). But where the announced 
absence of a quorum has resulted in a rollcall vote under this clause 
(on the Speaker's approval of the Journal), the House may not, even by 
unanimous consent, vacate the vote in order to conduct another voice 
vote in lieu of the rollcall vote, since no business, including a 
unanimous consent agreement, is in order in the announced absence of a 
quorum (July 13, 1983, p. 18844; Feb. 24, 1988, p. 2450). The House 
having authorized the Speaker to compel the attendance of absent 
Members, the Speaker announced that the Sergeant-at-Arms would proceed 
with necessary and efficacious steps, and that pending the establishment 
of a quorum no further business, including unanimous consent requests 
for recess authority, could be entertained (Nov. 2, 1987, p. 30389).
  When a Member objects to a vote on the ground that a quorum is not 
present and makes the point of order under this clause, the Speaker may 
count the House and determine the presence of a quorum, and is not 
required to announce his actual count under the first sentence of this 
clause 


[[Page 552]]
the Speaker's announcement of postponement). See clause 6(e)(1) of rule 
XV, infra.



Sec. 774a. Conduct of the call in the new form.

  Under  this 
clause the roll is called over twice, and those appearing after their 
names are called may vote (IV, 3052). A motion to adjourn may be made 
before the call begins (IV, 3050). After the roll has been called, and 
while the proceedings to obtain a quorum are going on, motions to excuse 
Members are in order (IV, 3051). The Sergeant-at-Arms is required to 
detain those who are present and bring in absentees (IV, 3045-3048), and 
he does this without the authority of a resolution adopted by those 
present (IV, 3049). There is doubt as to whether or not a warrant is 
necessary but it is customary for the Speaker to issue one on the 
authority of the rule (IV, 3043; VI, 702). When arrested, Members are 
arraigned at the bar, and either vote or are noted as present, after 
which they are discharged (IV, 3044). When a quorum fails to vote on a 
yea-and-nay vote on a motion which requires a quorum to be present, and 
a quorum is not present, the Chair takes notice of the fact, and unless 
the House adjourns, a call of the House is ordered by the Chair under 
this rule, and the vote is taken on the question de novo (IV, 3045, 
3052; VI, 679). An automatic roll call results under this rule when the 
objection that a quorum is not present and voting is made after a viva 
voice vote (VI, 697). An automatic roll call under this rule is not in 
order in Committee of the Whole (Aug. 2, 1966, p. 17844). Pursuant to 
clause 5(b) of rule I, where the Speaker has announced that he will 
postpone further proceedings on motions to suspend the rules on that day 
if any votes are objected to under clause 4 of rule XV, and objection is 
then made to any such votes under that clause, further proceedings are 
automatically postponed and the question is put de novo when that vote 
recurs as unfinished business, when further proceedings are postponed, 
the point of order that a quorum is not present is considered as 
withdrawn, since no longer in order (a question not being pending after 





Sec. 774b. Use of electronic equipment in recording roll 
calls.

  5.  (a) Unless, in his discretion, the Speaker orders the calling 
of the names of Members in the manner provided for under the preceding 
provisions of this rule, upon any roll call or quorum call the names of 
such Members voting or present shall be recorded by electronic device. 
In any such case, the Clerk shall enter in the Journal and publish in 
the Congressional Record, in alphabetical order in each category, a list 
of names of those Members recorded as voting in the affirmative, of 
those Members recorded as voting in the negative, and of those Members 
answering present, as the case may be, as if their names had been called 
in the manner provided for under such preceding provisions. Members 
shall have not less than fifteen minutes from the ordering of the roll 
call or quorum call to have their vote or presence recorded.


  The permissive use of an electronic voting system was incorporated in 
the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (sec. 121; 84 Stat. 1140) and 
was made a part of the standing rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, 
Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). The electronic system was first utilized in the 
House on January 23, 1973 (p. 1793). The clause in its essential form 
was adopted the next year (H. Res. 1123, Oct. 13, 1972, p. 36012).

  The Speaker has the discretion to continue to use the electronic 
system, even though the electronic display panels are temporarily 
inoperative, where the voting stations continue in operation and Members 
are able to verify their votes, or to use a backup voting procedure, 
such as calling the roll, where voting stations are inoperative (Speaker 
O'Neill, Sept. 19, 1985, p. 24245).


[[Page 553]]
the electronic voting device (Mar. 7, 1973, p. 6699), and pursuant to 
clauses 4 and 5 of rule XV the Speaker may, in his discretion, direct 
the Clerk to call the roll, in lieu of taking the vote by electronic 
device, where a quorum fails to vote on any question and objection is 
made for that reason (May 16, 1973, p. 15850). The Speaker declines to 
entertain unanimous consent requests to correct the Journal and Record 
on votes taken by electronic device (Apr. 18, 1973, p. 13081; May 10, 
1973, p. 15282; June 17, 1986, p. 14038), but the Speaker may announce a 
change in the result of a vote taken by electronic device where required 
to correct an error in identifying a signature on a voting card 
submitted in the well (June 11, 1981).
  The Speaker inserted in the Record a detailed statement describing 
procedures to be followed during votes and quorum calls by electronic 
device and by the back-up procedures therefor (Jan. 15, 1973, pp. 1054-
57). The Speaker may direct that a call of the House be conducted by an 
alphabetical call of the roll by the Clerk where, in his discretion, he 
does not utilize 


[[Page 554]]
cally during the first 10 minutes of a 15-minute voting period, but 
changes during the last 5 minutes would have to be made by ballot card 
in the well (Speaker Albert, Mar. 22, 1976, p. 7394). In 1977, Speaker 
O'Neill announced that changes could be made electronically at any time 
during a vote reduced to five minutes under the rules (Speaker O'Neill, 
Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70).

--  (b) <> The Speaker may, in his 
discretion, reduce to not less than five minutes the time within which a 
rollcall vote by electronic device may be taken--
  On a call of the House conducted by electronic device, Members are 
permitted a minimum of 15 minutes to respond, but it is within the 
discretion of the Chair, following the expiration of 15 minutes, to 
allow additional time for Members to record their presence before 
announcing the result (June 6, 1973, p. 18403), and since this clause is 
incorporated by reference into clause 2 of rule XXIII, the Chairman of 
the Committee of the Whole need not convert to a regular quorum call 
precisely at the expiration of 15 minutes if 100 Members have not 
appeared on a notice quorum call, but he may continue to exercise his 
discretion under clause 2 of rule XXIII at any time during the conduct 
of the call (July 17, 1974, p. 23673). Since the Chair has the 
discretion to close the vote and to announce the result at any time 
after 15 minutes have elapsed, those precedents guaranteeing Members in 
the chamber the right to have their votes recorded even if the Chair has 
announced the result (i.e., V, 6064, 6065; VIII, 2143), which predate 
the use of an electronic voting system, do not require the Chair to hold 
open indefinitely a vote taken by electronic device (Speaker pro tempore 
Meeds, Mar. 14, 1978, pp. 6838-39), and in the 103d Congress the Speaker 
inserted in the Record his announcement that, in order to expedite the 
conduct of votes by electronic device, the Cloakrooms were directed not 
to forward to the Chair individual requests to hold a vote open (Speaker 
Foley, Jan. 6, 1993, p. ----). In the 104th Congress the Speaker 
announced that each occupant of the Chair would have his full support in 
striving to close each electronic vote at the earliest opportunity and 
that Members should not rely on signals relayed from outside the chamber 
to assume that votes will be held open until they arrive (Speaker 
Gingrich, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----); however, the Chair will not close a 
vote while a Member is in the well attempting to vote (Feb. 10, 1995, p. 
----; June 22, 1995, p. ----). At the end of a 15-minute vote, after the 
electronic voting stations are closed but before the Speaker's 
announcement of the result, a Member may cast an initial vote or change 
a vote by ballot card in the well (Speaker Albert, Sept. 23, 1975, p. 
29850; Speaker Wright, Oct. 29, 1987, p. 30239). In 1975, Speaker Albert 
announced that changes could no longer be made at the electronic 
stations but would have to be made by ballot card in the well (Speaker 
Albert, Sept. 17, 1975, p. 28903). In 1976, Speaker Albert announced 
that changes could be made electroni

  (1) after a rollcall vote has been ordered on a motion for the 
previous question, on any underlying question that follows without 
intervening business;

  (2) after a rollcall vote has been ordered on an amendment reported 
from the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, on any 
subsequent amendment to that bill or resolution reported from the 
Committee of the Whole; or


  (3) after a rollcall vote has been ordered on a motion to recommit a 
bill, resolution, or conference report thereon, on the question of 
passage or adoption, as the case may be, of such bill, resolution, or 
conference report thereon, if the question of passage or adoption 
follows without intervening business the vote on the motion to recommit.


[[Page 555]]
added in the 103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----) to permit 
the Speaker to reduce to five minutes the vote on adoption of a special 
order of business resolution immediately following a 15-minute recorded 
vote on ordering the previous question thereon, clause 5 was organized 
into paragraphs (a) and (b). In the 104th Congress paragraph (b)(1) was 
broadened to cover any previous question situation (sec. 223(e), H. Res. 
6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
  The authority now found in paragraph (b)(3) was first added as an 
undesignated last sentence of clause 5 in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, 
Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16) to permit the Speaker to reduce to five minutes 
the vote on final passage immediately following a 15-minute recorded 
vote on a motion to recommit. The authority now found in paragraph 
(b)(2) was first added as an undesignated penultimate sentence of clause 
5 in the 101st Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1989, p. 72) to permit the 
Speaker to reduce to five minutes any rollcall votes on amendments 
reported to the House from Committee of the Whole after a 15-minute vote 
on the first of such amendments. When the authority found in paragraph 
(b)(1) was 

  Five-minute votes are now permitted at the discretion of the Chair in 
six circumstances: (1) under clause 5(b) of rule I, on additional 
questions on which the Speaker has postponed further proceedings 
immediately following a 15-minute vote on the first such postponed 
question; (2) under clause 5(b)(1) of rule XV, on an underlying question 
immediately following a 15-minute recorded vote on ordering the previous 
question thereon; (3) under clause 5(b)(2) of rule XV, on second and 
subsequent separate votes in the House on amendments reported from 
Committee of the Whole immediately following a 15-minute vote on the 
first such separate vote; (4) under clause 5(b)(3) of rule XV, on final 
passage immediately following a 15-minute recorded vote on recommittal; 
(5) under clause 2(a) of rule XXIII, on a pending question immediately 
following a regular quorum call in Committee of the Whole; and (6) under 
clause 2(c) of rule XXIII, on any or all pending amendments immediately 
following a 15-minute recorded vote on the first such pending amendment 
in Committee of the Whole. Clause 5(b) does not give the Chair the 
authority to reduce to five minutes the vote on a motion to recommit 
occurring immediately after a recorded vote on an amendment reported 
from the Committee of the Whole, and the Chair will not entertain a 
unanimous consent request to reduce that vote to five minutes after 
Members had already left the Chamber with the expectation that the next 
vote would be a 15-minute vote (June 29, 1994, p. ----).


  In the 95th Congress, the Speaker announced that changes could be made 
electronically at any time during a vote reduced to five minutes under 
the rules (Speaker O'Neill, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70).

  6. (a) It shall not be in order to make or entertain a point of order 
that a quorum is not present--



Sec. 774c. Quorum; when not required.

       (1) before or 
during the offering of prayer;



[[Page 556]]

      (2) during the administration of the oath of office to the Speaker 
or Speaker pro tempore or a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner; 

      (3) during the reception of any message from the President of the 
United States or the United States Senate; and

      (4) during the offering, consideration, and disposition of any 
motion incidental to a call of the House.

  (b) A quorum shall not be required in Committee of the Whole for 
agreement to a motion that the Committee rise.

  (c) After the presence of a quorum is once ascertained on any day on 
which the House is meeting, a point of order of no quorum may not be 
made or entertained--

      (1) during the reading of the Journal;

      (2) during the period after a Committee of the Whole has risen 
after completing its consideration of a bill or resolution and before 
the Chairman of the Committee has reported the bill or resolution back 
to the House; and

      (3) during any period of a legislative day when the Speaker is 
recognizing Members (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner) to 
address the House under special orders, with no measure or matter then 
under consideration for disposition by the House.


[[Page 557]]
is not required or a point of order of no quorum may not be made or 
entertained.
  (d) When the presence of a quorum is ascertained, a further point of 
order that a quorum is not present may not thereafter be made or 
entertained until additional business intervenes. For purposes of this 
paragraph, the term ``business'' does not include any matter, 
proceeding, or period referred to in paragraph (a), (b), or (c) of this 
clause for which a quorum 

  (e)(1) Except as provided by subparagraph (2), it shall not be in 
order to make or entertain a point of order that a quorum is not present 
unless the Speaker has put the pending motion or proposition to a vote.




Sec. 774d. Speaker's discretion to recognize for motion 
for call of House.

  (2)  Notwithstanding subparagraph (1), it shall always 
be in order for a Member to move a call of the House when recognized for 
that purpose by the Speaker, and when a quorum has been established 
pursuant to a call of the House, further proceedings under the call 
shall be considered as dispensed with unless the Speaker, in his 
discretion, recognizes for a motion under clause 2(a) of this rule or 
for a motion to dispense with further proceedings under the call.


  Paragraphs (a) through (d) were added in the 93d Congress (H. Res. 
998, Apr. 9, 1974, pp. 10195-99) and paragraph (e) in the 95th Congress 
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70).

  Under clause 6(e)(1), the Speaker may not entertain a point of order 
of no quorum when he has not put a question to a vote in the House 
(Speaker O'Neill, Jan. 11, 1977, p. 891; Jan. 31, 1977, p. 2640). The 
Chair may not entertain a point of order of no quorum pending a request 
that a committee be permitted to sit under the five-minute rule, since 
the Chair has not put the question on a pending proposition to a vote 
(June 18, 1980, pp. 15316-17). But under clause 6(e)(2) the Speaker may 
at any time in his discretion recognize a Member of his choice to move a 
call of the House (Speaker O'Neill, Jan. 19, 1977, p. 1719; Jan. 31, 
1977, p. 2640; Aug. 6, 1986, p. 19370) even, for example, prior to the 
call of the Private Calendar, which under clause 6 of rule XXIV is in 
order after approval of the Journal and disposition of business on the 
Speaker's table (July 8, 1987, p. 18972). Clause 6(e)(2) was amended in 
the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16) to dispense with 
further proceedings under any call of the House when a quorum appears 
unless the Speaker at his discretion recognizes for a motion.


[[Page 558]]
since the clause contains an absolute and unambiguous prohibition 
against entertaining such a point of order (Sept. 16, 1977, pp. 29562-
63). During debate on a measure in the House the Speaker will not 
respond to an inquiry as to the number of Members present in the 
Chamber, since a point of no quorum is not admissible unless he has put 
the pending question to a vote (Oct. 28, 1987, p. 29682).
  The Speaker's refusal to entertain a point of order of no quorum when 
a pending question has not been put to a vote is not subject to an 
appeal, 


  In adopting this rule, the House has presumably determined that the 
mere conduct of debate in the House, where the Chair has not put the 
pending motion or proposition to a vote, is not such business as 
requires a quorum under the Constitution (art. I, sec. 5, cl. 1), and 
neither a point of order of no quorum during debate only nor a point of 
order against the enforcement of this clause lies independently under 
the Constitution (Sept. 8, 1977, p. 28114; Sept. 12, 1977, pp. 28800-01; 
Feb. 27, 1986, p. 3060). See also clause 2 of rule XVII, providing that 
after the previous question is ordered a call of the House shall only be 
in order if the Speaker determines by actual count of the House that a 
quorum is not present.




Sec. 774e. Yeas and Nays ordered on certain 
questions.

  7.  The yeas and nays shall be considered as ordered when the 
Speaker puts the question on final passage or adoption of any bill, 
joint resolution, or conference report making general appropriations or 
increasing Federal income tax rates, or on final adoption of any 
concurrent resolution on the budget or conference report thereon.






[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 558-604]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-100]

 
  This clause was adopted in the 104th Congress (sec. 214, H. Res. 6, 
Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).


                                Rule XVI.


                   ON MOTIONS, THEIR PRECEDENCE, ETC.




Sec. 775. Motions reduced to writing and entered on the 
Journal.

  1.  Every motion made to the House and entertained by the Speaker 
shall be reduced to writing on the demand of any Member, and shall be 
entered on the Journal with the name of the Member making it, unless it 
is withdrawn the same day.



[[Page 559]]

  This clause was made up in 1880 of old rules adopted in 1789 and 1806 
(V, 5300). 


  Because of this rule it has been held not in order to amend or strike 
out a Journal entry setting forth a motion exactly as made (IV, 2783, 
2789). A motion not entertained is not entered on the Journal (IV, 2813, 
2844-2846). See Sec. 71, supra, for discussion of Journal entries. Any 
Member may demand that a motion be reduced to writing and in the proper 
form, including the motion to adjourn (Sept. 27, 1993, p. ----; Jan. 4, 
1995, p. ----), and the demand may be initiated by the Chair (July 24, 
1986, p. 17641). Consistent with this clause, the Chairman of the 
Committee of the Whole requires that each amendment be reduced to 
writing (July 22, 1994, p. ----).




Sec. 776. Stating and withdrawing of motions.

  2.  When a 
motion has been made, the Speaker shall state it or (if it be in 
writing) cause it to be read aloud by the Clerk before being debated, 
and it shall then be in possession of the House, but may be withdrawn at 
any time before a decision or amendment.


  The provisions of this clause were adopted first in 1789. At that time 
a second was required for every motion, but in practice this requirement 
became obsolete very early, and it was dropped from the rule in 1880 (V, 
5304).

  The House always insists that the motion shall be stated or read 
before debate shall begin (V, 4983) and the Clerk's reading may be 
dispensed with only by unanimous consent (Dec. 15, 1975, p. 40671; see 
provision of Jefferson's Manual at Sec. 432, supra). It is the duty of 
the Speaker to put a motion in order under the rules and practice 
without passing on its constitutional effect (IV, 3550; VIII, 2225, 
3031, 3071, 3427). In a case wherein a clerk presiding during 
organization of the House declined to put a question, a Member-elect put 
the question from the floor (I, 67).

  Under certain circumstances, a Member may make a double motion (V, 
5637).


[[Page 560]]
(VIII, 3420); but where a second is not required on a motion to suspend 
the rules under clause 2 of rule XXVII, the motion may be withdrawn at 
any time before action is taken thereon (July 27, 1981, p. 17563). A 
motion may be withdrawn although an amendment may have been offered and 
be pending (V, 5347; VI, 373; VIII, 2639), and in the House an 
amendment, whether simple or in the nature of a substitute, may be 
withdrawn at any time before an amendment is adopted thereto or decision 
is had thereon (VI, 587; VIII, 2332, 2764); and the same right to 
withdraw an amendment exists in the House as in Committee of the Whole 
(IV, 4935; June 26, 1973, p. 21315); but unanimous consent to withdraw 
an amendment is required in Committee of the Whole (V, 5221, 5753; VI, 
570; VIII, 2465, 2859, 3405). Withdrawal of a pending resolution is not 
in order when the absence of a quorum has been announced by the Chair 
(Oct. 14, 1970, pp. 36665-69). A motion that the House resolve into the 
Committee of the Whole for the consideration of a bill may be withdrawn 
pending a point of order against consideration of the bill, and if the 
motion is withdrawn the Chair is not obligated to rule on the point of 
order (VIII, 3405; Dec. 3, 1979, p. 34385). Unanimous consent is not 
required to withdraw a pending unanimous consent request (Speaker 
O'Neill, Dec. 16, 1985, p. 36575).


Sec. 777. Conditions of withdrawal of motions.

  Even  after 
the affirmative side has been taken on a division the withdrawal of a 
motion has been permitted (V, 5348), also after a viva voce vote and the 
ordering and appointment of tellers (V, 5349). While the House was 
dividing on a second of the previous question (this second is no longer 
required) on a motion to refer a resolution, the Member was permitted to 
withdraw the resolution (V, 5350); also a motion was once withdrawn 
after the previous question had been ordered on an appeal from a 
decision on a point of order as to the motion (V, 5356). A motion to 
suspend the rules could be withdrawn at any time before a second was 
ordered (V, 6844; VIII, 3405, 3419), even on another suspension day (V, 
6844) but not after a second was ordered, except by unanimous consent 


  A ``decision'' which prevents withdrawal may consist of the ordering 
of the yeas and nays (V, 5353), either directly on the motion or on a 
motion to lay it on the table (V, 5354), the ordering of the previous 
question (V, 5355; June 29, 1995, p. ----), or the demand therefor (V, 
5489), or the refusal to lay on the table (V, 5351, 5352; VIII, 2640). 
Where the Speaker has put the question on adoption of a resolution to a 
voice vote without the ordering of the previous question, and the yeas 
and nays have not been ordered, the resolution may be withdrawn (V, 
5349; Feb. 26, 1985, p. 3501). A privileged resolution called up in the 
House is debated under the hour rule; and the Member calling up such a 
resolution is recognized for an hour notwithstanding the fact that the 
resolution has been previously considered, debated, and then withdrawn 
before action thereon (Apr. 8, 1964, pp. 7303-08).

  Where proceedings are postponed on a motion for the previous question 
pending a point of no quorum on a voice vote thereon (pursuant to clause 
5 of rule I), the manager may withdraw the motion when it is again 
before the House as unfinished business. See proceedings of July 24, 
1989, where the motion for the previous question was withdrawn and an 
amendment was offered to a special order (p. 15818).



[[Page 561]]

  A Member having the right to withdraw a motion before a decision 
thereon has the resulting power to modify the motion (V, 5358; Oct. 23, 
1990, p. ----), and a Member having the right to withdraw a motion to 
instruct conferees before a decision thereon has the resulting power to 
modify the motion by offering a different motion at the same stage of 
proceedings (July 14, 1993, p. ----). A motion being withdrawn, all 
proceedings on an appeal arising from a point of order related to it 
fell thereby (V, 5356).




Sec. 778. The question of consideration.

  3.  When any motion 
or proposition is made, the question, Will the House now consider it? 
shall not be put unless demanded by a Member.


  The question of consideration is an outgrowth of the practice of the 
House, and was in use as early as 1808. The rule was adopted in 1817 in 
order to limit its use. It is the means by which the House protects 
itself from business that it does not wish to consider (V, 4936; VIII, 
2436). The refusal to consider does not amount to the rejection of a 
bill or prevent its being brought before the House again (V, 4940), and 
an affirmative vote does not prevent the question of consideration from 
being raised on a subsequent day when the bill is again called up as 
unfinished business (VIII, 2438). It has once been held that a question 
of privilege which the House has refused to consider may be brought up 
again on the same day (V, 4942). The question of consideration is not 
debatable (VIII, 2447), and thus not subject to the motion to lay on the 
table (Oct. 4, 1994, p. ----). See also rule XXV (Sec. 900, infra), 
which provides that questions relating to the priority of business are 
not debatable.



Sec. 779. Raising the question of consideration.

  A  Member 
may demand the question of consideration, although the Member in charge 
of the bill may claim the floor for debate (V, 4944, 4945; VI, 404); but 
after debate has begun the demand may not be made (V, 4937-4939). It has 
been admitted, however, after the making of a motion to lay on the table 
(V, 4943). The demand for the question of consideration may not be 
prevented by a motion for the previous question (V, 5478), but after the 
previous question is ordered it may not be demanded (V, 4965, 4966), 
even on another day, unless other business has intervened (V, 4967, 
4968). The question of consideration being pending, a motion to refer is 
not in order (V, 5554).


  The intervention of an adjournment does not destroy the right to raise 
the question of consideration (V, 4946), but this right did not hold 
good in a case where the yeas and nays had been ordered and the House 
had adjourned pending the failure of a quorum on the roll call (V, 
4949). A question of consideration undisposed of at an adjournment does 
not recur as unfinished business on a succeeding day (V, 4947, 4948). It 
is not in order to reconsider the vote whereby the House refuses to 
consider a bill (V, 5626, 5627), although it is in order to reconsider 
an affirmative vote on the question of consideration (Oct. 4, 1994, p. 
----).


[[Page 562]]
raised against a proposition before the House for reference merely, as 
a petition (V, 4964). It may not be demanded against a class of business 
in order under a special order or rule, but may be demanded against each 
bill individually (IV, 3308, 3309; V, 4958, 4959). It may be raised 
against a bill which has been made a special order (IV, 3175; V, 4953-
4957), unless the order provides for immediate consideration (V, 4960), 
and it may be raised against a bill on the Union Calendar on Calendar 
Wednesday before resolving into the Committee of the Whole even after 
one Wednesday has been devoted to it (VIII, 2447); but it may not be 
raised against a report from the Committee on Rules relating to the 
order of considering individual bills (V, 4961-4963; VIII, 2440, 2441).


Sec. 780. Questions subject to the question of 
consideration.

  The  question of consideration may be demanded against a 
matter of the highest privilege, such as the right of a Member to his 
seat (V, 4941), a question involving the privilege of the House (VI, 
560), against the motion to reconsider (VIII, 2437), but not against a 
bill returned with the President's objection (V, 4960, 4970). It may not 
be 


  The question of consideration may not be raised on a motion relating 
to the order of business (V, 4971-4976; VIII, 2442; May 21, 1958, p. 
9216); to a motion to discharge a committee (V, 4977); or against a 
motion to take from the Speaker's table Senate bills substantially the 
same as House bills already favorably reported and on the House Calendar 
(VIII, 2443). On a motion to go into Committee of the Whole to consider 
a bill the House expresses its wish as to consideration by its vote on 
this motion (V, 4973-4976; VI, 51; VIII, 2442; May 21, 1958, p. 9216).




Sec. 781. Relation of question of consideration to points of 
order.

  A  point of order against the eligibility for consideration of a 
bill which if sustained might prevent consideration should be made and 
decided before the question of consideration is put (V, 4950, 4951; VII, 
2439), but if the point relates merely to the manner of considering, it 
should be passed on afterwards (V, 4950). In general, after the House 
has decided to consider, a point of order raised with the object of 
preventing consideration, in whole or part, comes too late (IV, 4598; V, 
4952, 6912-6914), but on a conference report the question of 
consideration may be demanded before points of order are raised against 
the substance of the report (VIII, 2439; Speaker Albert, Sept. 28, 1976, 
p. 33019).




[[Page 563]]



Sec. 781a. 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)). The 
latter provision also prescribes that such points of order be disposed 
of by putting the question of consideration with respect to the 
proposition against which they are lodged (sec. 426(b); 2 U.S.C. 
658e(b)). See Sec. 1007, infra.



[[Page 564]]
motion to adjourn provided for in this clause and shall be determined 
without debate.



Sec. 782. Precedence of privileged motions.

  4.  When a 
question is under debate, no motion shall be received but to adjourn, to 
lay on the table, for the previous question (which motions shall be 
decided without debate), to postpone to a day certain, to refer, or to 
amend, or postpone indefinitely; which several motions shall have 
precedence in the foregoing order; and no motion to postpone to a day 
certain, to refer, or to postpone indefinitely, being decided, shall be 
again allowed on the same day at the same stage of the question. After 
the previous question shall have been ordered on the passage of a bill 
or joint resolution one motion to recommit shall be in order, and the 
Speaker shall give preference in recognition for such purpose to a 
Member who is opposed to the bill or joint resolution. However, with 
respect to any motion to recommit with instructions after the previous 
question shall have been ordered, it always shall be in order to debate 
such motion for ten minutes before the vote is taken on that motion, 
except that on demand of the floor manager for the majority it shall be 
in order to debate such motion for one hour. One half of any debate on 
such motions shall be given to debate by the mover of the motion and one 
half to debate in opposition to the motion. It shall be in order at any 
time during a day for the Speaker, in his discretion, to entertain 
motions that (1) the Speaker be authorized to declare a recess; and (2) 
when the House adjourns it stand adjourned to a day and time certain. 
Either motion shall be of equal privilege with the 


  The first form of this clause appears in 1789, but amendments have 
been made at various times (V, 5301; VIII, 2757). That portion of the 
clause relating to debate on the motion to recommit with instructions 
was included as section 123 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 
1970 and was made a part of the standing rules in the 92d Congress (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 14). The final two sentences of the clause 
were added in the 93d Congress to enable a privileged, nondebatable 
motion to fix the adjournment (H. Res. 6, Jan. 3, 1973, pp. 26-27), and 
amended in the 102d Congress to enable a privileged, nondebatable motion 
for recess authority (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). The clause was 
also amended in the 99th Congress to provide that on the demand of the 
majority floor manager of a bill or joint resolution, the ten minutes of 
debate on a motion to recommit with instructions, the previous question 
having been ordered, may be extended to one hour, equally divided and 
controlled (H. Res. 7, Jan. 3, 1985, p. 393).

  The application of the first sentence of the clause is confined to 
cases wherein a question is ``under debate'' (V, 5379). It has been held 
that a question ceases to be ``under debate'' after the previous 
question has been ordered (V, 5415). But with the exception of the 
motion to adjourn it is obvious that the motions specified in this rule 
can only be used when some question is ``under debate.''


[[Page 565]]
virtue of unanimous consent permission to announce to the House the 
legislative program (Dec. 14, 1982, p. 30549), or a call of the yeas and 
nays (V, 6053), or the actual act of voting by other means (V, 5360), or 
be made after the House has voted to go into Committee of the Whole (IV, 
4728; V, 5367, 5368), or defer the right of a Member to take the oath 
(I, 622) and may not be repeated in the absence of intervening business 
(Speaker Albert, July 31, 1975, p. 26243); and when no question is under 
debate it may not displace a motion to fix the day to which the House 
shall adjourn (V, 5381). The Speaker has refused to recognize for a 
motion to adjourn pending a vote on a proposition, where a special order 
provided that the House vote thereon ``without intervening motion'' (IV, 
3211-3213).


Sec. 783. The motion to adjourn.

  The  motion to adjourn not 
only has the highest precedence when a question is under debate, but, 
with certain restrictions, it has the highest privilege under all other 
conditions. Even questions of privilege (III, 2521), such as a motion 
privileged under the Constitution (VIII, 2641), the filing of a 
privileged report pursuant to clause 4(a) of rule XI (Apr. 29, 1985, p. 
9699), a motion to suspend the rules (Aug. 11, 1992, p. ----), and the 
motion to reconsider yield to it (V, 5605), and a conference report may 
defer it only until the report is before the House (V, 6451-6453). The 
motion may be made after the yeas and nays are ordered and before the 
roll call has begun (V, 5366), before the reading of the Journal (IV, 
2757) or the Speaker's approval thereof (Speaker Wright, Nov. 2, 1987, 
p. 30386), pending a motion to reconsider (Sept. 20, 1979, pp. 25512-
13), after the House rejects a motion to table a motion to instruct 
conferees and before the vote occurs on the motion to instruct (May 29, 
1980, pp. 12717-19), or when the Speaker is absent and the Clerk is 
presiding (I, 228), and in the absence of a quorum has precedence over 
the motion for a call of the House (VIII, 2642), takes priority of a 
motion to dispense with further proceedings under the call (VIII, 2643), 
and takes precedence of a motion directing the Sergeant-at-Arms to 
arrest absentees during a call of the House (June 6, 1973, p. 18403). 
But the motion to adjourn may not interrupt a Member who has the floor 
(V, 5369, 5370; VIII, 2646; Mar. 25, 1993, p. ----) as, for example, by 


  When the House has fixed the hour of daily meeting, the simple motion 
to adjourn may neither be amended (V, 5754) by specifying a particular 
day (V, 5360) or hour (V, 5364) (but see Sec. 784, infra, for a 
discussion of the equally privileged motion to fix the day and time to 
which the House shall adjourn); nor by stating the purposes of 
adjournment (V, 5371, 5372; VIII, 2647). However, when the hour of daily 
meeting is not fixed, the motion to adjourn may fix it (V, 5362, 5363). 
A motion to adjourn is in order in simple form only (VIII, 2647), is not 
debatable (V, 5359), may not be laid on the table (Aug. 3, 1990, p. ----
), is not in order in Committee of the Whole (IV, 4716), and is not 
entertained when the Committee of the Whole rises to report proceedings 
incident to securing a quorum (VI, 673; VIII, 2436). After the motion is 
made neither another motion nor an appeal may intervene before the 
taking of the vote (V, 5361). When the House adopts the motion to 
adjourn, it must adjourn immediately; and a unanimous consent request 
that the House proceed to the calling of special order speeches is not 
in order (Sept. 27, 1993, p. ----).


[[Page 566]]
to a time certain later in the day, thereby meeting for two legislative 
days on the same calendar day (Nov. 17, 1981, p. 27771; Oct. 29, 1987, 
p. 29933; June 29, 1995, p. ----). When the Speaker exercises his 
discretion to entertain ``at any time'' a motion that when the House 
adjourn it stand adjourned to a day and time certain, the motion is of 
equal privilege with the simple motion to adjourn and takes precedence 
over a pending question on which the vote has been objected to for lack 
of a quorum (Nov. 17, 1981, p. 27770). The motion is not subject to the 
motion to lay on the table since it is not debatable and the precedence 
conferred on the motion to table only applies to a question that is 
``under debate'' (Nov. 17, 1981, p. 27770).


Sec. 784. Motion to fix the day to which the House shall 
adjourn.

  The  motion to fix the day and time to which the House shall 
adjourn, in its present form, was included in this clause of rule XVI 
and given privileged status in the 93d Congress (H. Res. 6, Jan. 3, 
1973, pp. 26-27). At several times during the 19th Century the motion to 
fix the day to which the House should adjourn was included within the 
rule as to the precedence of motions but was dropped because of its use 
in obstructive tactics (V, 5301, 5379). The following precedents relate 
to the use of the motion in its earlier form: No question being under 
debate, a motion to fix the day to which the House should adjourn, 
already made, was held not to give way to a motion to adjourn (V, 5381). 
But if the motion to adjourn be made first, the motion to fix the day or 
for a recess is not entertained (V, 5302). The motion to fix the day is 
not debatable under the practice of the House (V, 5379, 5380; VIII, 
2648, 3367), requires a quorum for adoption (IV, 2954; June 19, 1975, p. 
19789; June 22, 1976, p. 19755), and is only in order if offered on the 
day on which the adjournment applies (Speaker pro tempore O'Neill, Sept. 
23, 1976, p. 32104). The House may convene and adjourn twice on the same 
calendar day pursuant to a motion under this clause that when the House 
adjourn it adjourn 




Sec. 785. Motion to lay on the table.

  The  motion to lay on 
the table is used in the House for a final, adverse disposition of a 
matter without debate (V, 5389), and is in order before the Member 
entitled to prior recognition for debate has begun his remarks (V, 5391-
5395; VIII, 2649, 2650). Under the explicit terms of this clause, the 
motion is not debatable (Oct. 16, 1991, p. ----). The motion is 
applicable to a motion to reconsider (VIII, 2652, 2659), motion to 
postpone to a day certain (VIII, 2654, 2657), resolution presenting 
question of privilege (VI, 560), appeal from decision of the Chair 
(VIII, 3453), motion to discharge committee from resolution of inquiry 
(VI, 415), motion that the Journal be approved as read (Sept. 13, 1965, 
p. 23600), proposal to investigate with view to impeachment (VI, 541), 
concurrent resolution to adjourn sine die (Mar. 27, 1936, p. 4512) and a 
resolution to expel a Member (Oct. 1, 1976, p. 35111). But a question of 
privilege (affecting the right of a Member to a seat) that has been laid 
on the table may be taken therefrom on motion made and agreed to by the 
House (V, 5438). The motion to lay on the table has the precedence given 
it by the rule, but may not be made after the previous question is 
ordered (V, 5415-5422; VIII, 2655), or even after the yeas and nays have 
been ordered on the demand for the previous question (V, 5408, 5409); 
but pending the demand for the previous question on a motion that is 
under debate, the motion to lay the primary motion on the table is 
preferential and is voted on first (Speaker Albert, Sept. 22, 1976, pp. 
31876-82; Speaker O'Neill, July 10, 1985, pp. 18397-18400). The previous 
question having been ordered on a bill to final passage, the motion to 
lay the bill on the table may not then be offered pending a motion to 
reconsider the vote whereby the bill had been passed or rejected (Sept. 
20, 1979, pp. 25512-13).



[[Page 567]]
to the table pending motions for their disposition (VIII, 2657). The 
Journal does not accompany a proposed amendment to the table (V, 5435, 
5436); the original question does not accompany an appeal (V, 5434); a 
resolution does not accompany another resolution with which it is 
connected, or a preamble (V, 5248, 5430); and a petition does not 
accompany the motion to receive it when the latter is laid on the table 
(V, 5431-5433); a bill does not accompany a motion to instruct conferees 
which is laid on the table (VIII, 2658).
  When a bill is laid on the table, pending motions connected therewith 
go to the table also (V, 5426, 5427); and when a proposed amendment is 
laid on the table the pending bill goes there also (V, 5423; VIII, 
2656), and if a pending amendment to a special order reported from the 
Committee on Rules were tabled, it would carry the resolution with it 
and is thus considered dilatory under clause 4(b) of rule XI (Sept. 25, 
1990, p. ----). This rule holds good as to a House bill with Senate 
amendments (V, 5424, 6201-6203; Sept. 28, 1978, p. 32334), but laying on 
the table the motion to postpone consideration of Senate amendments was 
held not to carry 

  A motion to lay on the table a motion to reconsider the vote by which 
an amendment to a resolution had been agreed to would not carry the 
resolution to the table (VIII, 2652).

  The motion is not in order in Committee of the Whole (IV, 4719, 4720; 
VIII, 2330, 2556a, 3455; Mar. 16, 1995, p. ----), or on motions to go 
into the Committee of the Whole (VI, 726). It may not be amended (V, 
5754), for example, to operate for a specified time (Oct. 16, 1991, p. 
----), or applied to the motions for adjournment (Aug. 3, 1990, p. ----
), the previous question (V, 5410-5411; Oct. 4, 1994, p. ----), to 
suspend the rules (V, 5405), to commit after the previous question is 
ordered (V, 5412-5414; VIII, 2653, 2655), or to any motion relating to 
the order of business (V, 5403, 5404). It may not be applied to a motion 
to discharge a committee under rule XXVII (June 11, 1945, p. 5892) but 
may be applied to the motion to discharge a committee from consideration 
of a resolution of inquiry (V, 5407). It is generally not applicable to 
motions that are neither debatable nor amendable and hence cannot be 
applied to a motion to dispense with further proceedings under a call of 
the House (Speaker McCormack, Aug. 27, 1962, pp. 17651-54), or to a 
motion that when the House adjourn it stand adjourned to a day and time 
certain (Nov. 17, 1981, p. 27770). The motion to lay on the table is 
applicable to debatable secondary or privileged motions for disposal of 
another matter; thus a motion to refer (V, 5433; Aug. 13, 1982, pp. 
20969, 20975-78) or a motion to recede and concur in a Senate amendment 
in disagreement may be laid on the table (Speaker O'Neill, Feb. 22, 
1978, p. 4072) without carrying the pending matter to the table. The 
motion is not applicable to a conference report (V, 6540).


[[Page 568]]
ished business in the House, recognition for debate does not begin anew 
but recommences from the point where it was interrupted (June 10, 1980, 
p. 13801). It is not in order to postpone pending business to Calendar 
Wednesday (VIII, 2614), but if so postponed by consent, when 
consideration is concluded on that Wednesday, the remainder of the day 
is devoted to business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule (VII, 
970). The motion is not used in Committee of the Whole, but a motion 
that a bill be reported with the recommendation that it be postponed is 
in order in the Committee of the Whole proceeding under the general 
rules of the House (IV, 4765; VIII, 2372), is debatable (VIII, 2372), 
and is a preferential motion (VIII, 2372, 2615), but debate is confined 
to the advisability of postponement only (VIII, 2372). It has been held 
in order to postpone an appeal (VIII, 2613). A bill under consideration 
in the morning hour may not be made a special order by a motion to 
postpone to a day certain (IV, 3164).


Sec. 786. The motions to postpone.

  As  indicated in the rule, 
the motions to postpone are two in number and distinct: One to postpone 
to a day certain; the other to postpone indefinitely. Each must apply to 
the whole and not a part of the pending proposition (V, 5306). Neither 
may be entertained after the previous question is ordered (V, 5319-5321; 
VIII, 2616, 2617), or be applied to a special order providing for the 
consideration of a class of bills (V, 4958); but when a bill comes 
before the House under the terms of a special order that assigns a day 
merely, a motion to postpone may be applied to the bill (IV, 3177-3182). 
Business postponed to a day certain is in order on that day immediately 
after the approval of the Journal and disposition of business on the 
Speaker's Table, unless displaced by more highly privileged business 
(VIII, 2614). Where consideration of a measure postponed to a day 
certain resumes as unfin


  The motion to postpone to a day certain may not specify the hour (V, 
5307). The motion may be amended (V, 5754; VIII, 2824). It is debatable 
within narrow limits only (V, 5309, 5310), the merits of the bill to 
which it is applied not being within those limits (V, 5311-5315; VIII, 
2372, 2616, 2640).

  The motion to postpone indefinitely opens to debate all the merits of 
the proposition to which it is applied (V, 5316). It may not be applied 
to the motion to refer (V, 5317), to suspend the rules (V, 5322), or 
motion to resolve into the Committee of the Whole (VI, 726), and it is 
reasonable to infer that it is equally inapplicable to the other 
secondary or privileged motions enumerated in the rule and to motions 
relating to the order of business. However, the motion to postpone 
indefinitely may be applied to the motion that the House resolve itself 
into the Committee of the Whole pursuant to the provisions of a statute, 
enacted under the rule-making power of the House of Representatives, 
that specifically allows such a motion in the consideration of a 
resolution disapproving a certain executive action (Mar. 10, 1977, p. 
7021; Aug. 3, 1977, p. 26528).


[[Page 569]]
Member or a Member opposed to the question to which the motion is 
applied is entitled to a priority of recognition, and whether the 
prohibition in clause 4(b) of rule XI against a special order reported 
from the Committee on Rules denying a motion to recommit a bill or joint 
resolution pending final passage is applicable. The motion may not be 
used in direct form in Committee of the Whole (IV, 4721; VIII, 2326); 
and where a bill is being considered under the provisions of a 
resolution stating that ``at the conclusion of the consideration of the 
bill for amendment under the five-minute rule the Committee shall rise 
and report the bill back to the House with such amendments as may have 
been adopted,'' a motion that the Committee rise and report to the House 
with the recommendation that the bill be recommitted to the legislative 
committee reporting it is not in order (Aug. 10, 1950, p. 12219). It may 
be made after the engrossment and third reading of a bill, even though 
the previous question may not have been ordered (V, 5562, 5563).


Sec. 787. The motions to refer.

  The  parliamentary motion to 
refer is explicitly recognized and given status in four different 
situations under House rules: The ordinary motion provided for in the 
first sentence of this clause; the motion to recommit with or without 
instructions after the previous question has been ordered on a bill or 
joint resolution to final passage, provided in the second sentence of 
this clause; the motion to commit, with or without instructions, pending 
the motion for or after ordering of the previous question as provided in 
clause 1 of rule XVII (V, 5569) and the motion to refer, with or without 
instructions, pending a vote in the House to strike out the enacting 
clause as provided in clause 7 of rule XXIII. The terms ``refer,'' 
``commit,'' and ``recommit'' are sometimes used interchangeably (V, 
5521; VIII, 2736), but when used in the precise manner and situation 
contemplated in each rule, reflect certain differences based upon 
whether the question to which applied is ``under debate,'' whether the 
motion itself is debatable, whether a Minority 


  If the previous question is rejected on a preferential motion to 
dispose of Senate amendments in disagreement, the preferential motion 
remains ``under debate'' and the motion to refer may be offered under 
this clause (Speaker Albert, Sept. 16, 1976, pp. 30887-88). A motion to 
refer takes precedence over motion to amend when a question is under 
debate (such as where the previous question has been rejected), and the 
Chair recognizes the Member seeking to offer the preferential motion 
before the less preferential motion is read (Aug. 13, 1982, pp. 20969, 
20975-78).


[[Page 570]]
for five minutes in favor of the motion may not reserve time (Speaker 
Wright, June 29, 1988, p. 16510; June 29, 1989, p. 13938).
  The simple motion to refer under the first sentence of this clause is 
debatable within narrow limits (V, 5054) and may be offered by any 
Member (who need not qualify as being in opposition to the pending 
question) when that question is ``under debate,'' i.e., when the 
previous question has not been moved or ordered, but the merits of the 
proposition sought to be referred may not be brought into the debate (V, 
5564-5568; VI, 65, 549; VIII, 2740). The motion to refer with 
instructions is also debatable (V, 5561); but the previous question is 
preferential (Mar. 22, 1990, p. 4997), and when the previous question is 
ordered on a bill to final passage, debate on a straight motion to 
recommit under the second sentence of this clause is no longer in order 
and only a motion to recommit with instructions is debatable for the ten 
minutes specified in the rule (June 22, 1995, p. ----). Prior to the 
amendment of clause 4 of rule XVI in the 92d Congress, no debate was 
permitted on a motion to recommit with instructions after the previous 
question was ordered (V, 5561, 5582-5584; VIII, 2741). The ten minutes' 
debate provided under this clause on motions to recommit with 
instructions does not apply to a motion to recommit with instructions a 
simple or concurrent resolution or conference report, since the clause 
limits its applicability to bills and joint resolutions (Nov. 15, 1973, 
p. 37151; Mar. 29, 1976, p. 8444; Speaker O'Neill, June 19, 1986, p. 
14698). The manager of a bill or joint resolution and not the proponent 
of a motion to recommit with instructions has the right to close 
controlled debate on a motion to recommit (Speaker Wright, Dec. 3, 1987, 
p. 34066); the Member recognized 



Sec. 788. Instructions with the motion to refer.

  The  motion 
to refer may specify that the reference shall be to a select as well as 
a standing committee (IV, 4401) without regard for rules of jurisdiction 
(IV, 4375; V, 5527) and may provide for reference to another committee 
than that reporting the bill (VIII, 2696, 2736), or to the Committee of 
the Whole (V, 5552-5553), and even that the committee be endowed with 
power to send for persons and papers (IV, 4402). Unless the previous 
question is ordered the motion may be amended (VIII, 2712, 2738), in 
part (V, 5754); by substitute (VIII, 2698, 2738, 2759); or by adding 
instructions (V, 5521, 5570, 5582-5584; VIII, 2695, 2762; Aug. 13, 1982, 
pp. 20969, 20975-78). The ordering of the previous question on a bill 
and all amendments to final passage precludes debate (other than that 
specified in clause 4 of rule XVI) on a motion to recommit but does not 
exclude amendments to such motion (V, 5582; VIII, 2741) and unless the 
previous question is ordered on a motion to recommit with instructions, 
the motion is open to amendment germane to the bill (see V, 6888; VIII, 
2711), and a substitute striking out all of the proposed instructions 
and substituting others cannot be ruled out as interfering with the 
right of the minority to move recommitment (VIII, 2759). The Member 
offering a motion to recommit a bill with instructions may, at the 
conclusion of the 10 minutes of debate thereon, yield to another Member 
to offer an amendment to the motion if the previous question has not 
been ordered on the motion to recommit (Speaker Albert, July 19, 1973, 
p. 24967).


  The motion to recommit may not be accompanied by preamble or otherwise 
include argument, explanation, or other matter in the nature of debate 
(V, 5589; VIII, 2749). Thus, a motion to recommit a bill to a standing 
committee with recommendations for producing legislation that the 
President could sign was held inadmissible in both form and content 
(Feb. 27, 1992, p. ----).


[[Page 571]]
to offer a motion to recommit with instructions to incorporate an 
amendment in the restricted title (Jan. 11, 1934, pp. 479-83). Where an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute has been adopted, and no motion 
to recommit with an amendment is in order, the minority has sometimes 
used a motion that directs a committee to study an issue and to report 
``promptly'' its recommendations (Mar. 29, 1990, p. 1834). Instructions 
must be germane to the bill regardless of whether they directly propose 
an amendment thereto (Sept. 23, 1992, p. ----). In the 104th Congress 
clause 4(b) of rule XI was amended to preclude the Committee on Rules 
from reporting a special order that would prevent the Minority Leader or 
his designee from offering a motion to recommit with instructions to 
report back an amendment otherwise in order (but for the adoption of a 
prior amendment). See Sec. 729a, supra.
  It is not in order to propose as instructions anything that might not 
be proposed directly as an amendment (V, 5529-5541; VIII, 2705), such as 
to eliminate an amendment adopted by the House (VIII, 2712), strike out 
an amendment that has been adopted and insert something in its place 
(VIII, 2715), to amend an adopted amendment (VIII, 2720, 2721, 2724), to 
propose an amendment containing legislation on a general appropriation 
bill (Sept. 1, 1976, pp. 28883-84), or to propose instructions to add a 
limitation to a general appropriation bill except pursuant to clause 
2(d) of rule XXI (Sept. 19, 1983, p. 24646; Speaker Foley, Aug. 1, 1989, 
p. 17159, and Aug. 3, 1989, p. 18546, each time sustained by tabling of 
appeal; July 1, 1992, p. ----; June 22, 1995, p. ----); but it has been 
held in order to re-offer an amendment rejected by the House (VIII, 
2728); and where a special rule providing for the consideration of a 
bill prohibited the offering of amendments to a certain title of the 
bill during its consideration (in both the House and the Committee of 
the Whole), it was held not in order 

  It has been a practice to permit a motion to recommit with 
instructions that the committee report ``forthwith,'' in which case the 
chairman makes report at once without awaiting action by the committee 
(V, 5545-5547; VIII, 2730), and the bill is before the House for 
immediate consideration (V, 5550; VIII, 2735). If one motion to recommit 
is ruled out, a proper motion is admissible (VIII, 2736, 2760, 2761, 
2763). The motion may be withdrawn in the House at any time before 
action or decision thereon (VIII, 2764). The simple motion to recommit 
and the motion to recommit with instructions are of equal privilege and 
have no relative precedence (VIII, 2714, 2758, 2762; Nov. 25, 1970, p. 
38997). When a bill is recommitted it is before the committee as a new 
subject (IV, 4557; V, 5558), but the committee must confine itself to 
the instructions, if there be any (IV, 4404; V, 5526). Where the House 
has recommitted a bill to a committee with instructions to report it 
back forthwith with certain amendments, the amendments must be adopted 
by the House after the report by the Committee (VIII, 2734).


[[Page 572]]
the minority party may have successfully led the opposition to the 
previous question on the special order governing consideration of the 
bill and offered a ``modified closed rule'' permitting only minority 
Members to offer perfecting amendments to the majority text (June 26, 
1981, p. 14740). But while the motion to recommit is the prerogative of 
the minority if opposed, a Member who in the Speaker's determination 
leads the opposition to the previous question on the motion to recommit, 
such as the chairman of the committee reporting the bill, is entitled to 
offer an amendment to the motion to recommit, regardless of party 
affiliation (June 26, 1981, pp. 14791-93). A Member who is opposed to 
the bill ``in its present form'' (i.e., in the form before the House 
when the motion is made) qualifies to offer the motion (Speaker Martin, 
Apr. 15, 1948, p. 4547; Speaker McCormack, Mar. 12, 1964, p. 5147; 
Speaker Albert, Feb. 19, 1976, p. 3920). The Chair does not assess the 
degree of a Member's opposition (Oct. 23, 1991, p. ----). These 
principles of recognition have been applied to motions to ``commit'' or 
``recommit'' simple or concurrent resolutions as well under clause 1 of 
rule XVII in situations where the resolution or a similar measure has 
been reported from committee (Nov. 28, 1979, p. 33914).
  As stated in the second sentence of clause 4 of rule XVI, recognition 
to offer the motion to recommit, whether a ``straight'' motion or with 
instructions, is the prerogative of a Member who is opposed to the bill 
or joint resolution (Speaker Martin, Mar. 19, 1954, p. 3967); and the 
Speaker looks first to the Minority Leader or his designee (as imputed 
by the form of clause 4(b) of rule XI adopted in the 104th Congress), 
then to minority members of the committee reporting the bill, in order 
of their rank on the committee (Speaker Garner, Jan. 6, 1932, p. 1396; 
Speaker Byrns, July 2, 1935, p. 10638), then to other Members on the 
minority side (Speaker Rayburn, Aug. 16, 1950, p. 12608). Until a 
qualifying Minority Member has had his motion read by the Clerk, he is 
not entitled to the floor so as to prevent another qualifying senior 
Minority Member from the reporting committee from seeking recognition to 
offer the motion to recommit (Speaker O'Neill, Apr. 24, 1979, pp. 8360-
61). If no Member of the minority qualifies, a majority Member who is 
opposed to the bill may be recognized (Speaker Garner, Apr. 1, 1932, p. 
7327). The priority of recognition of a Member of the minority who is 
opposed is not diminished by the fact that 


<>   5. 
The hour at which the House adjourns shall be entered on the Journal.



Sec. 789. Repetition of motions.

  The  rule specifies that the 
motions to postpone and refer shall not be repeated on the same day at 
the same stage of the question (V, 5301, 5591; VIII, 2738, 2760). Under 
the practice, also, a motion to adjourn may be repeated only after 
intervening business (V, 5373; VIII, 2814), debate (V, 5374), the 
ordering of the yeas and nays (V, 5376, 5377), decision of the Chair on 
a question of order (V, 5378), reception of a message (V, 5375). The 
motion to lay on the table may also be repeated after intervening 
business (V, 5398-5400); but the ordering of the previous question (V, 
5709), a call of the House (V, 5401), or decision of a question of order 
have been held not to be such intervening business, it being essential 
that the pending matter be carried to a new stage in order to permit a 
repetition of the motion (V, 5709).



  This clause was adopted in 1837, and amended in 1880 (V, 6740).


[[Page 573]]
members or any portion of the members of the standing committees of the 
House and the joint standing committees shall not be divisible, nor 
shall any resolution or order reported by the Committee on Rules, 
providing a special order of business be divisible.



Sec. 791. Division of the question.

  6.  On the demand of any 
Member, before the question is put, a question shall be divided if it 
includes propositions so distinct in substance that one being taken away 
a substantive proposition shall remain: Provided, That any motion or 
resolution to elect the 


  This clause was first adopted in 1789, and was amended in 1837 (V, 
6107). The first part of the proviso was adopted April 2, 1917 (VIII, 
2175) and the last part May 3, 1933 (VIII, 3164).

  The House may by adoption of a resolution reported from the Committee 
on Rules suspend the rule providing for the division of a question (VII, 
775).


[[Page 574]]
A resolution with two resolve clauses separately certifying the 
contemptuous conduct of two individuals is divisible (Feb. 27, 1986, p. 
3040).


Sec. 792. Principles governing the division of the 
question.

  The  principle that there must be at least two substantive 
propositions in order to justify division is insisted on rigidly (V, 
6108-6113), as failure to do so produces difficulties (III, 1725). The 
question may not be divided after it has been put (V, 6162), or after 
the yeas and nays have been ordered (V, 6160, 6161); but division of the 
question may be demanded after the previous question is ordered (V, 
5468, 6149; VIII, 3173). In passing on a demand for division the Chair 
considers only substantive propositions and not the merits of the 
question presented (V, 6122). It seems to be most proper, also, that the 
division should depend on grammatical structure rather than on the 
legislative propositions involved (I, 394; V, 6119), but a question 
presenting two propositions grammatically is not divisible if either 
does not constitute a substantive proposition when considered alone 
(VII, 3165). Thus a resolution censuring a Member and adopting a report 
of a committee thereon, which recommends censure on the basis of the 
committee's findings, is not divisible since those questions are 
substantially equivalent (Speaker O'Neill, Oct. 13, 1978, pp. 37016-17); 
and an adjournment resolution that also authorizes the receipt of veto 
messages from the President during the adjournment is not subject to a 
division of the question, as the receipt authority would be nonsensical 
standing alone (June 30, 1976, p. 21702); however, a concurrent 
resolution on the budget is subject to a demand for a division of the 
question if, for example, the resolution grammatically and substantively 
relates to different fiscal years (May 7, 1980, pp. 10185-87), or 
includes a separate, hortatory section having its own grammatical and 
substantive meaning (Speaker Foley, Mar. 5, 1992, p. ----). Decisions 
have been made that a resolution affecting two individuals may be 
divided, although such division may involve a reconstruction of the text 
(I, 623; V, 6119-6121). The better practice seems to be, however, that 
this reconstruction of the text should be made by the adoption of a 
substitute amendment of two branches, rather than by interpretation of 
the Chair (II, 1621). But merely formal words, such as ``resolved,'' may 
be supplied by interpretation of the Chair (V, 6114-6118). 


  Except on resolutions to elect Members to committees or on resolutions 
reported from the Committee on Rules providing a special order of 
business, where division of the question is prohibited by clause 6, a 
resolution reported from the Committee on Rules may be divided where 
otherwise appropriate. Thus a resolution reported from that Committee 
establishing several select committees in grammatically divisible 
titles, not being a special order of business, is subject to a demand 
for a division of the question (Jan. 8, 1987, p. 1036). However, it is 
not in order to demand a division of a subject incorporated by reference 
in the pending text, as when a resolution to adopt a series of rules, 
not made a part of the resolution, was before the House, it was held not 
in order to demand a separate vote on each rule (V, 6159).

  The question on engrossment and third reading under clause 1 of rule 
XXI is not divisible (Speaker Foley, Aug. 3, 1989, p. 18544); and in 
voting on the engrossment or passage of a bill or joint resolution, a 
separate vote may not be demanded on the various portions (V, 6144-6146; 
VIII, 3172), or on the preamble (V, 6147).


[[Page 575]]
form of a motion to strike out and insert (Oct. 15, 1986, p. 32135). 
Each Senate amendment must be voted on as a whole (VIII, 3175) but the 
Committee of the Whole having reported a Senate amendment with the 
recommendation that it be agreed to with an amendment, a separate vote 
was had on the amendment to the Senate amendment (VIII, 2420). When 
Senate amendments to a House bill are considered in the House a separate 
vote may be had on each amendment (VIII, 2383, 2400, 3191), and separate 
votes may be had on nongermane portions of Senate amendments as provided 
in clause 5 of rule XXVIII.
  A measure containing a series of simple resolutions may be divided (V, 
6149), and a division of the question may be demanded on a resolution 
confirming several nominations (Speaker Albert, Mar. 19, 1975, p. 7344). 
Where an amendment is offered to an appropriation bill providing that no 
part of the appropriation may be paid to named individuals, the 
amendment may be divided for a separate vote on each name (Feb. 5, 1943, 
p. 645). An amendment (to a joint resolution making continuing 
appropriations) containing separate paragraphs appropriating funds for 
different programs may be substantively and grammatically divisible 
although preceded by the same prefatory language applicable to all the 
paragraphs, and the Clerk will read each paragraph as including the 
prefatory language prior to the Chair's putting the question thereon 
(Nov. 8, 1983, p. 31495). An amendment proposing to change a figure in 
one paragraph of an appropriation bill and also to insert a new 
(``fetch-back'') paragraph at another point in the bill is divisible 
(July 15, 1993, p. ----). A division may be demanded on the motion to 
recede from disagreement to a Senate amendment and concur therein (see 
Sec. 525, supra; V, 6209; VIII, 3197-3199, 3203), on a proposition to 
strike out various unrelated phrases (VIII, 3166; Mar. 28, 1984, p. 
6898), on a resolution of impeachment (VI, 545), but may not be demanded 
on Senate amendments when sending to conference (V, 6151-6156; VIII, 
3175). A division of the question may not be demanded, with respect to a 
motion to concur in a Senate amendment with an amendment, between 
concurring and amending (VIII, 3176), and may not be demanded on 
separate parts of the proposed amendment if it is not properly divisible 
under the same tests that apply to any other amendment (Aug. 3, 1973, 
pp. 28124-26; Oct. 11, 1984, p. 32188). Thus a proposed amendment to a 
Senate amendment is not divisible under clause 7 of this rule if in the 

  When a motion is made to lay several connected propositions on the 
table a division is not in order (V, 6138-6140), nor is a division in 
order where the previous question is moved on two related propositions, 
as on a special order reported from the Committtee on Rules and a 
pending amendment thereto (Sept. 25, 1990, p. ----). On a motion to 
commit with instructions it is not in order to demand a separate vote on 
the instructions or various branches thereof (V, 6134-6137; VIII, 2737, 
3170; Speaker Rayburn, Apr. 11, 1956, p. 6157; June 29, 1993, p. ----). 
However, an amendment reported forthwith pursuant to instructions 
contained in a successful motion to recommit may be divided on the 
question of its adoption if composed of substantively and grammatically 
distinct propositions (June 29, 1993, p. ----). A motion to recommit a 
bill to conference with various instructions may not be divided (Sept. 
29, 1994, p. ----). However, a motion to instruct conferees after 20 
days of conference (when multiple motions are in order) may be divided 
(Speaker Byrns, May 26, 1936, p. 7951), provided that separate 
substantive propositions are presented (Speaker Rayburn, May 9, 1946, p. 
4750).

  A division of the question may not be demanded on a motion to strike 
out and insert (V, 5767, 6123; VIII, 3169; clause 7 of rule XVI), on 
bills or joint resolutions for reference (IV, 4376) or change of 
reference (VII, 2125), a motion to elect Members to committees of House 
(VIII, 2175, 3164; clause 6 of rule XVI), a question against which a 
point of order is pending (VIII, 3432), a proposition under a motion to 
suspend the rules (V, 6141-6143; VIII, 3171), or on substitutes for 
pending amendments (V, 6127; VIII, 3168; Aug. 17, 1972, pp. 28887-90; 
July 2, 1980, pp. 18288-92), but a perfecting amendment to an amendment 
may be divisible if not in the form of a motion to strike out and insert 
(V, 6131). A proposition reported from the Committee of the Whole as an 
entire and distinct amendment may not be divided, but must be voted on 
in the House as a whole (IV, 4883-4892). An amendment reported forthwith 
pursuant to instructions contained in a successful motion to recommit 
may be divided on the question of its adoption if composed of 
substantively and grammatically distinct propositions (June 29, 1993, p. 
----). A separate vote may not be demanded in the House on an amendment 
adopted in the Committee of the Whole to an amendment (VIII, 2422, 2426, 
2427).


[[Page 576]]
the question, the second is open to debate and amendments, unless the 
previous question is ordered (see Sec. 482, supra). Where a division of 
the question is demanded on a portion of an amendment, the Chair puts 
the question first on the remaining portions of the amendment, and that 
portion on which the division is demanded remains open for further 
debate and amendment (Oct. 21, 1981, pp. 24785-89). However, where no 
further debate or amendment is in order on the divided portion, the 
Chair may put the question first on the divided portion(s) and then 
immediately on the remaining portion (Aug. 17, 1972, Deschler's 
Precedents, vol. 9, ch. 27, sec. 22.14; June 8, 1995, p. ----). Where a 
division of the question is demanded on more than one portion of an 
amendment, the Chair may put the question first on the remaining 
portions of the amendment (if any), then (after further debate) on the 
first part on which a division is demanded, and then (after further 
debate) on the last part on which a division is demanded (Oct. 21, 1981, 
pp. 24785-89). Where a motion to concur in a Senate amendment is divided 
pursuant to a special rule permitting that procedure, the Chair puts the 
question first on the first portion of the Senate amendment, and then on 
the remaining portion (Mar. 4, 1993, p. ----).
  On a decision of the Speaker involving two distinct questions, there 
may be a division on appeal (V, 6157). After the vote on the first 
member of 


  Absent a contrary order, the question may be divided on an amendment 
en bloc comprising discrete instructions to amend, even though unanimous 
consent has just been granted for the en bloc consideration (July 25, 
1990, p. ----; July 18, 1991, p. ----). A demand for a division of the 
question on a separate portion of an amendment may be withdrawn before 
the question is put on the first portion thereof (July 15, 1993, p. ----
), but once the Chair has put the question on the first portion of the 
amendment, a demand for a division may be withdrawn only by unanimous 
consent (Sept. 9, 1976, pp. 29538-40).




Sec. 793. Motion to strike out and insert not 
divisible.

  7.  A motion to strike out and insert is indivisible, but a 
motion to strike out being lost shall neither preclude amendment nor 
motion to strike out and insert; * * *


  This clause was adopted in 1811, and amended in 1822 (V, 5767).


[[Page 577]]
as it would have the effect of dividing the motion to strike out and 
insert (June 29, 1939, pp. 8282, 8284-85; June 19, 1979, pp. 15566-68).

  When it is proposed to strike out and insert not one but several 
connected matters, it is not in order to demand a separate vote on each 
of those matters (V, 6124, 6125), as when an amendment in the nature of 
a substitute containing several resolutions is proposed; but after this 
amendment has been agreed to, it is in order to demand a division of the 
original resolution as amended (V, 6127, 6128). When, however, an 
amendment simply adding or inserting is proposed, it is in order to 
divide the amendment (V, 6129-6133). To a motion to strike certain words 
and insert others, a simple motion to strike out the words may not be 
offered as a substitute, 




Sec. 794. Germane amendments.

  * * *  and no motion or 
proposition on a subject different from that under consideration shall 
be admitted under color of amendment.


  This clause was adopted in 1789, and amended in 1822 (V, 5767, 5825).


[[Page 578]]
an amendment is equally susceptible to more than one interpretation, 
one of which will render it not germane, the Chair will rule it out of 
order (June 20, 1975, p. 19967).
  It introduced a principle not then known to the general parliamentary 
law (V, 5825), but of high value in the procedure of the House (V, 
5866). Prior to the adoption of rules, when the House is operating under 
general parliamentary law, as modified by the usage and practice of the 
House, an amendment may be subject to the point of order that it is not 
germane to the proposition to which offered (Jan. 3, 1969, p. 23). The 
principle of the rule applies to a proposition by which it is proposed 
to modify the pending bill, and not to a portion of the bill itself (V, 
6929); thus a point of order will not lie that an appropriation in a 
general appropriation bill is not germane to the rest of the bill (Dec. 
16, 1963, p. 24753). In general, an amendment simply striking out words 
already in a bill may not be ruled out as not germane (V, 5805; VIII, 
2918) unless such action would change the scope and meaning of the text 
(VIII, 2917-2921; Mar. 23, 1960, p. 6381); and a pro forma amendment 
``to strike out the last word'' has been considered germane (July 28, 
1965, p. 18639). While a committee may report a bill or resolution 
embracing different subjects, it is not in order during consideration in 
the House to introduce a new subject by way of amendment (V, 5825). The 
rule that amendments should be germane applies to amendments reported by 
committees (V, 5806), but a resolution providing for consideration of 
the bill with committee amendments may waive points of order (Oct. 10, 
1967, p. 28406), and the point of order under this rule does not apply 
to a special order reported from the Committee on Rules ``self-
executing'' the adoption in the House of a nongermane amendment to a 
bill, since the amendment is not separately before the House during 
consideration of the special order (Feb. 24, 1993, p. ----; July 27, 
1993, p. ----). A resolution reported from the Committee on Rules 
providing for the consideration of a bill relating to a certain subject 
may be amended neither by an amendment that would substitute the 
consideration of an unrelated proposition (V, 5834-5836; VIII, 2956; 
Sept. 14, 1950, p. 14844) nor an amendment that would permit the 
additional consideration of a non-germane amendment to the bill (May 29, 
1980, pp. 12667-73; Aug. 13, 1982, p. 20972). The Chair will not 
interpret as a point of order under a specific rule of the House, on 
which he must rule, an objection to a substitute as ``narrowing the 
scope'' of a pending amendment, absent some stated or necessarily 
implied reference to the germaneness or other rule (June 25, 1987, p. 
17415). The burden of proof is on the proponent of an amendment to 
establish its germaneness (VIII, 2995), and where 



Sec. 795. Proposition to which amendment must be 
germane.

  Under  the later practice an amendment should be germane to the 
particular paragraph or section to which it is offered (V, 5811-5820; 
VIII, 2922, 2936; Oct. 14, 1971, pp. 36194, 36211; Sept. 19, 1986, p. 
24729), without reference to subject matter of other titles not yet read 
(July 31, 1990, p. ----), and an amendment inserting an additional 
section should be germane to the portion of the bill to which it is 
offered (V, 5822; VIII, 2927, 2931; July 14, 1970, pp. 24033-35), though 
it may be germane to more than one portion of a bill (Mar. 27, 1974, pp. 
8508-09), and when offered as a separate paragraph is not required to be 
germane to the paragraph immediately preceding or following it (VII, 
1162; VIII, 2932-2935).


  While it is a proper test of germaneness that instructions in a motion 
to recommit must be germane to the section of the bill to which offered 
(VIII, 2709), instructions inserting a new title at the end of a bill 
need only be germane to the bill as a whole (Sept. 19, 1986, p. 24769).

  Subject to clause 2(c) of rule XXI (requiring that limitation 
amendments to general appropriation bills be offered at the end of the 
reading of the bill for amendment), an amendment limiting the use of 
funds by a particular agency funded in a general appropriation bill may 
be germane to the paragraph carrying the funds, or to any general 
provisions portion of the bill affecting that agency or all agencies 
funded by the bill (July 16, 1979, p. 18807). However, to a paragraph 
containing funds for an agency but not transferring funds to that 
account from other paragraphs in the bill, an amendment increasing that 
amount by transfer from an account in another paragraph is not germane, 
since affecting budget authority for a different agency not the subject 
of the pending paragraph (July 17, 1985, p. 19436).

  In passing on the germaneness of an amendment, the Chair considers the 
relationship between the amendment and the bill as modified by the 
Committee of the Whole (Apr. 23, 1975, p. 11545; July 8, 1987, p. 
19013).


[[Page 579]]
1975, p. 29322; July 11, 1985, pp. 18601-02; Oct. 8, 1985, pp. 26548-
51). While the heading of the final title of a bill as ``miscellaneous'' 
does not thereby permit amendments to that title which are not germane 
thereto, the inclusion of sufficiently diverse provisions in such title 
affecting various provisions in the bill may permit further amendments 
which need only be germane to the bill as a whole (Apr. 10, 1979, pp. 
8034-37).
  An amendment adding a new section to a bill being read by titles must 
be germane to the pending title (Sept. 17, 1975, p. 28925), but where a 
bill is considered as read and open to amendment at any point, an 
amendment must be germane to the bill as a whole and not to a particular 
section (Sept. 29, 1975, p. 30761; Jan. 30, 1986, p. 1052). Where a 
title of a bill is open to amendment at any point, the germaneness of an 
amendment perfecting one section therein depends on its relationship to 
the title as a whole and not merely on its relationship to the one 
section (June 25, 1991, p. ----). An amendment in the form of a new 
title, when offered at the end of a bill containing several diverse 
titles on a general subject, need not be germane to the portion of the 
bill to which offered, it being sufficient that the amendment be germane 
to the bill as a whole in its modified form (Nov. 4, 1971, p. 39267; 
July 2, 1974, p. 22029; Sept. 18, 

  Under clause 4 of rule XXVIII, a portion of a conference report 
incorporating part of a Senate amendment in the nature of a substitute 
to a House bill, or incorporating part of a Senate bill that the House 
has amended, must be germane to the bill in the form passed by the 
House; thus where a House-passed bill contained several sections and 
titles amending diverse portions of the Internal Revenue Code relating 
to tax credits, a modified Senate provision adding a new section dealing 
with another tax credit was held germane to the House-passed measure as 
a whole (Speaker Albert, Mar. 26, 1975, p. 8900); but a Senate provision 
in a conference report, on a Senate bill with a House amendment in the 
nature of a substitute, which authorized appointment of a special 
prosecutor for any criminal offenses committed by certain Federal 
officials was held not germane to the bill as passed by the House, which 
related to offenses directly related to official duties and 
responsibilities of Federal officials (Oct. 12, 1978, pp. 36459-61).

  The test of germaneness of an amendment to or a substitute for an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute is its relationship to the 
substitute and not its relationship to the bill to which the amendment 
in the nature of a substitute has been offered (July 19, 1973, p. 24958; 
July 22, 1975, p. 23990; June 1, 1976, pp. 16051-56; July 28, 1982, pp. 
18355-58, 18361), and an amendment to a substitute is not required to 
affect the same page and line numbers as the substitute in order to be 
germane, it being sufficient that the amendment is germane to the 
subject matter of the substitute (Aug. 1, 1979, pp. 21944-47). When an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute is offered at the end of the 
first section of a bill, the test of germaneness is the relationship 
between the amendment and the entire bill, and the germaneness of an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute for a bill is not necessarily 
determined by an incidental portion of the amendment which if offered 
separately might not be germane to the portion of the bill to which 
offered (July 8, 1975, p. 21633).

  The test of germaneness of an amendment offered as a substitute for a 
pending amendment is its relationship to the pending amendment and not 
its relationship to the underlying bill (Feb. 14, 1995, p. ----).


[[Page 580]]

  An amendment germane to the bill as a whole, but hardly germane to any 
one section, may be offered at an appropriate place with notice of 
motions to strike out the following sections which it would supersede 
(V, 5823; July 29, 1969, p. 21221). Where a perfecting amendment to the 
text is offered pending a vote on a motion to strike out the same text, 
the perfecting amendment must be germane to the text to which offered, 
not to the motion to strike (Oct. 3, 1969, p. 28454).



Sec. 796. Instructions to committees and amendments 
thereto.

  The  rule that amendments must be germane applies to amendments 
to the instructions in a motion to instruct conferees (VIII, 3230, 
3235), and the test of an amendment to a motion to instruct conferees is 
the relationship of the amendment to the subject matter of the House or 
Senate version of the bill (Deschler-Brown Precedents, vol. 11, ch. 28, 
sec. 28.2). The rule of germaneness similarly applies to the 
instructions in a motion to recommit a bill to a committee of the House, 
as it is not in order to propose as part of a motion to recommit any 
proposition that would not have been germane if proposed as an amendment 
to the bill in the House (V, 5529-5541; VIII, 2708-2712; Mar. 2, 1967, 
p. 5155), and the instructions must be germane to the bill as perfected 
in the House (Mar. 22, 1949, p. 2936; Nov. 19, 1993, p. ----), even 
where the instructions do not propose a direct amendment to the bill but 
merely direct the committee to pursue an unrelated approach (Speaker 
O'Neill, Mar. 2, 1978, p. 5272; July 16, 1991, p. ----) or direct the 
committee not to report the bill back to the House until an unrelated 
contingency occurs (VIII, 2704). Under the same rationale as amendments 
to a motion to instruct conferees, amendments to a motion to recommit to 
a standing committee with instructions must be germane to the subject 
matter of the bill (see V, 6888; VIII, 2711).


  The fact that an amendment is offered in conjunction with a motion to 
recommit a bill with instructions to a standing committee does not 
affect the requirement that the subject matter of the amendment be 
germane and within the jurisdiction of the committee reporting the bill 
(Mar. 2, 1967, p. 5155; July 16, 1991, p. ----).


[[Page 581]]
to the House bill (VIII, 3425), but under changes in the rules points 
of order may be made and separate votes demanded on portions of Senate 
amendments and conference reports containing language that would not 
have been germane if offered in the House. Clause 4 of rule XXVIII 
permits points of order against language in a conference report which 
was originally in the Senate bill or amendment and which would not have 
been germane if offered to the House-passed version, and permits a 
separate motion to reject such portion of the conference report if found 
non-germane (Oct. 15, 1986, pp. 31498-99). For purposes of that rule, 
the House-passed version, against which Senate provisions are compared, 
is that finally committed to conference, taking into consideration all 
amendments adopted by the House, including House amendments to Senate 
amendments (July 28, 1983, p. 21401). Clause 5 of rule XXVIII permits 
points of order against motions to concur or concur with amendment in 
non-germane Senate amendments, the stage of disagreement having been 
reached, and, if such points of order are sustained, permits separate 
motions to reject such non-germane matter. Clause 5 of rule XXVIII is 
not applicable to a provision contained in a motion to recede and concur 
with an amendment (the stage of disagreement having been reached) which 
is not contained in any form in the Senate version, the only requirement 
in such circumstances being that the motion as a whole be germane to the 
Senate amendment as a whole under clause 7 of rule XVI (Oct. 4, 1978, 
pp. 33502-06; June 30, 1987, p. 18294).


Sec. 797. Senate amendments and matter contained in 
conference reports.

  In  the consideration of Senate amendments to a House 
bill an amendment must be germane to the particular Senate amendment to 
which it is offered (V, 6188-6191; VIII, 2936; May 14, 1963, p. 8506; 
Dec. 13, 1980, p. 34097), and it is not sufficient that an amendment to 
a Senate amendment is germane to the original House bill if it is not 
germane to the subject matter of a Senate amendment that merely inserts 
new matter and does not strike out House provisions (V, 6188; VIII, 
2936). But where a Senate amendment proposes to strike out language in a 
House bill, the test of the germaneness of a motion to recede and concur 
with an amendment is the relationship between the language in the motion 
and the provisions in the House bill proposed to be stricken, as well as 
those to be inserted, by the Senate amendment (June 8, 1943, p. 5511; 
June 15, 1943, p. 5899; Dec. 12, 1974, pp. 39272-73). The test of the 
germaneness of an amendment to a motion to concur in a Senate amendment 
with an amendment is the relationship between the amendment and the 
motion, and not between the amendment and the Senate amendment to which 
the motion has been offered (Aug. 3, 1973, the Deschler-Brown 
Precedents, vol. 11, ch. 28, sec. 27.6). Formerly, a Senate amendment 
was not subject to the point of order that it was not germane 



[[Page 582]]
access to committee hearings and meetings, an amendment to another 
clause of that rule relating to committee staffing was held not germane 
(Mar. 7, 1973, p. 6714). But to an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute comprehensively amending several sections of the Clean Air 
Act with respect to the impact of the shortages of energy resources upon 
standards imposed under that Act, an amendment to another section of 
that Act suspending for a temporary period the authority of the 
Administrator of the E.P.A. to control automobile emissions was held 
germane (Dec. 14, 1973, pp. 41688-89), and to a section of a bill 
prescribing the functions of a new Federal Energy Administration by 
conferring wide discretionary powers upon the Administrator, an 
amendment directing the Administrator to issue preliminary summer 
guidelines for citizen fuel use was held germane as a further 
delineation of those functions (Mar. 6, 1974, pp. 5436-37); however, to 
a title of a bill that only addresses the administrative structure of a 
new department and not its authority to carry out transferred programs, 
an amendment prohibiting the department from withholding funds to carry 
out certain objectives is not germane (June 12, 1979, pp. 14485-86). To 
an amendment authorizing the use of funds for a specific study, an 
amendment naming any program established in the bill for an unrelated 
purpose for a specified Senator was held not germane (Aug. 15, 1986, p. 
22075).


Sec. 798a. Subject matter as test of 
germaneness.

  An  amendment must relate to the subject matter under 
consideration: to a bill seeking to eliminate wage discrimination based 
on the sex of the employee, an amendment to make the provisions of the 
bill applicable to discrimination based on race was ruled out as not 
germane (July 25, 1962, p. 14778). To a bill establishing an office in 
the Department of the Interior to manage biological information, an 
amendment addressing socioeconomic matters was held not germane (Oct. 
26, 1993, p. ----). To a bill authorizing military assistance to Israel 
and funds for the United Nations Emergency Force in the Middle East, an 
amendment expressing the sense of Congress that the President conduct 
negotiations to obtain a peace treaty in the Middle East and the 
resumption of diplomatic and trade relations between Arab nations and 
the U.S. and Israel was held not germane (Dec. 11, 1973, pp. 40842-43). 
To a concurrent resolution expressing Congressional concern over certain 
domestic policies of a foreign government and urging that government to 
improve those internal problems in order to enhance better relations 
with the United States, amendments expressing the necessity for U.S. 
diplomatic initiatives as a consequence of that foreign government's 
policies are not germane (July 12, 1978, pp. 20500-05). But to a 
proposition directing a feasibility investigation, an amendment 
requiring the submission of legislation to implement that investigation 
is germane (Dec. 14, 1973, pp. 41747-48). To a resolution amending 
several clauses of a rule of the House but confined in its scope to the 
issue of 


  An amendment that is germane, not being ``on a subject different from 
that under consideration,'' belongs to a class illustrated by the 
following: To a bill providing for an interoceanic canal by one route, 
an amendment providing for a different route (V, 5909); to a bill 
providing for the reorganization of the Army, an amendment providing for 
the encouragement of marksmanship (V, 5910); to a proposition to create 
a board of inquiry, an amendment specifying when it shall report (V, 
5915); to a bill relating to ``oleomargarine and other imitation dairy 
products,'' an amendment on the subject of ``renovated butter'' (V, 
5919); to a resolution rescinding an order for final adjournment, an 
amendment fixing a new date therefor (V, 5920).


[[Page 583]]
purpose of the bill (Aug. 2, 1973, pp. 27673-75; July 8, 1975, p. 
21633; Sept. 29, 1980, pp. 27832-52). But to a bill relating to one 
government agency, an amendment having as its fundamental purpose a 
change in the law relating to another agency was held not germane even 
though it contemplated a consultative role for the agency covered by the 
bill (July 8, 1987, p. 19014).


Sec. 798b. Fundamental purpose as test of 
germaneness.

  Whether  or not an amendment is germane should be judged from the 
provisions of its text rather than from the motives that circumstances 
may suggest (V, 5783, 5803; Dec. 13, 1973, pp. 41267-69; Aug. 15, 1974, 
pp. 28438-39). Thus an amendment that does relate to the subject matter 
of the bill is not subject to challenge solely on the basis that it may 
be characterized as private legislation benefitting certain individuals, 
offered to a public bill (May 30, 1984, p. 14495). The fundamental 
purpose of an amendment must be germane to the fundamental purpose of 
the bill (VIII, 2911). Thus for a bill proposing to accomplish a result 
by methods comprehensive in scope, a committee amendment in the nature 
of a substitute seeking to achieve the same result was held germane 
where it was shown that additional provisions not contained in the 
original bill were merely incidental conditions or exceptions that were 
related to the fundamental 



[[Page 584]]

  In order to be germane, an amendment must not only have the same end 
as the matter sought to be amended, but must contemplate a method of 
achieving that end that is closely allied to the method encompassed in 
the bill or other matter sought to be amended (Aug. 11, 1970, p. 28165). 
Thus to a proposition to accomplish a result through regulation by a 
governmental agency, an amendment to accomplish the same fundamental 
purpose through regulation by another governmental agency was held 
germane (Dec. 15, 1937, pp. 1572-89; June 9, 1941, p. 4905; Dec. 19, 
1973, pp. 42618-19); to a bill to achieve a certain purpose by 
conferring discretionary authority to set fair labor standards upon an 
independent agency, an amendment in the nature of a substitute to attain 
that purpose by a more inflexible method (prescribing fair labor 
standards) was held germane (Dec. 15, 1937, pp. 1590-94; Oct. 14, 1987, 
p. 27885); to a proposition to accomplish the broad purpose of settling 
land claims of Alaska natives by a method general in scope, an amendment 
accomplishing the same purpose by a method more detailed in its 
provisions was held germane (Oct. 20, 1971, p. 37079); to an amendment 
comprehensively amending the Natural Gas Act to de-regulate interstate 
sales of new natural gas and regulate aspects of intrastate gas use, a 
substitute providing regulatory authority for interstate and intrastate 
gas sales of large producers was held germane (Feb. 4, 1976, p. 2387); 
to a bill providing a temporary extension of existing authority, an 
amendment achieving the same purpose by providing a nominally permanent 
authority was held germane where both the bill and the amendment were 
based on reported economic projections under which either would achieve 
the same, necessarily temporary result by method of direct or indirect 
amendment to the same existing law (May 13, 1987, p. 12344); and to a 
bill subjecting employers who fail to apprise their workers of health 
risks to penalties under other laws and regulations, a substitute 
subjecting such employers to penalties prescribed in the substitute 
itself was held germane (Oct. 14, 1987, p. 27885). To a bill raising 
revenue by several methods of taxation the Committee of the Whole, 
overruling the Chair, held that an amendment proposing a tax on 
undistributed profits was germane (VII, 3042). To an amendment freezing 
the obligation of funds for fiscal year 1996 for missile defense until 
the Secretary of Defense rendered a specified readiness certification, 
an amendment permitting an increase in the obligation of such funds on 
the basis of legislative findings concerning readiness was held germane, 
as each proposition addressed the relationship between 1996 funding 
levels for missile defense and readiness (Feb. 15, 1995, p. ----). 


[[Page 585]]
representation of the District of Columbia in Congress, with 
instructions that the Committee on the Judiciary consider a resolution 
retroceding populated portions of the District to Maryland, was held not 
germane (Speaker O'Neill, Mar. 2, 1978, p. 5272). To a bill to provide 
financial assistance to domestic agriculture through price support 
payments, an amendment to protect domestic agriculture by restricting 
imports in competition therewith was not germane as proposing an 
unrelated method of assistance within the jurisdiction of another 
committee (Oct. 14, 1981, p. 23899). It is not germane to change a 
direct appropriation of new budget authority from the general fund into 
a reappropriation (in effect a rescission) of funds previously 
appropriated for an entirely different purpose in a special reserve 
account (Feb. 28, 1985, p. 4146). To a proposition changing 
Congressional budget procedures to require consideration of balanced 
budgets, an amendment changing concurrent resolutions on the budget to 
joint resolutions, bringing executive enforcement mechanisms into play, 
was held not germane (July 18, 1990, p. ----).
  However, an amendment to accomplish a similar purpose by an unrelated 
method, not contemplated by the bill, is not germane. Thus, to a bill to 
aid in the control of crime through research and training an amendment 
to accomplish that result through regulation of the sale of firearms was 
held not germane (Aug. 8, 1967, pp. 21846-50); to a bill providing 
relief to foreign countries through government agencies, an amendment 
providing for relief to be made through the International Red Cross was 
held not germane (Dec. 10, 1947, pp. 11242-44); and to a bill conserving 
energy by civil penalties on manufacturers of autos with low gas 
mileage, an amendment conserving energy by tax rebates to purchasers of 
high-mileage autos was held not germane (June 12, 1975, p. 18695). To a 
bill authorizing financial assistance to unemployed individuals for 
employment opportunities, an amendment providing instead for tax 
incentives to stimulate employment was held not germane as employing an 
unrelated method within the jurisdiction of a different committee of the 
House (Sept. 21, 1983, p. 25145); to a bill to promote technological 
advancement by fostering Federal research and development, and amendment 
exhorting to do so by changes in tax and antitrust laws was held not 
germane (July 16, 1991, p. ----); to a bill extending unemployment 
compensation benefits during a period of economic recession, an 
amendment to stimulate economic growth by tax incentives and regulatory 
reform was held not germane (Sept. 17, 1991, p. ----); to an amendment 
to achieve a national production goal for synthetic fuels for national 
defense needs by loans and grants and development of demonstration 
synthetic fuel plants, a substitute to require by regulation that any 
fuel sold in commerce require a certain percentage of synthetic fuels 
was held not germane, as broader in scope and an unrelated method (June 
26, 1979, pp. 16663-74); to a proposition whose fundamental purpose was 
registration and public disclosure by, but not regulation of the 
activities of, lobbyists, amendments prohibiting lobbying in certain 
places, restricting monetary contributions by lobbyists, and providing 
civil penalties for violating rules of the House in relation to floor 
privileges, were held not germane (Sept. 28, 1976, pp. 33070-71), but to 
a similar bill, an amendment requiring disclosure of any lobbying 
communication made on the floor of the House or Senate or in adjoining 
rooms, but not regulating such conduct, was held germane (Apr. 26, 1978, 
pp. 11641-42); to a bill providing assistance to Vietnam war victims, 
amendments containing foreign policy declarations as to culpability in 
the Vietnam war were held not germane (Apr. 23, 1975, p. 11510); to a 
bill authorizing foreign military assistance programs, an amendment 
authorizing contributions to an international agency for nuclear missile 
inspections was held not germane (Mar. 3, 1976, p. 5226); and to a bill 
seeking to accomplish a purpose by one method (creation of an executive 
branch agency), an amendment accomplishing that result by a method not 
contemplated in the bill (creation of office within Legislative Branch 
as function of committee oversight) was ruled not germane (Nov. 5, 1975, 
p. 35041). A motion to recommit a joint resolution, proposing a 
constitutional amendment for 


[[Page 586]]
transferred to the department is not necessarily germane, where the 
purpose of the authorization is to allow appropriations in general 
appropriation bills for the department to carry out its functions, but 
where changes in the laws to be administered by the department remain 
within the jurisdiction of other committees of the House (June 19, 1979, 
pp. 15570-71). To a bill reported by the Committee on Public Works 
authorizing funds for highway construction and mass transportation 
systems using motor vehicles, an amendment relating to urban mass 
transit (then within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Banking and 
Currency) and the railroad industry (within the jurisdiction of the 
Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce) was held not germane (Oct. 
5, 1972, p. 34115). To a bill reported from the Committee on Science and 
Technology authorizing environmental research and development activities 
of an agency, an amendment expressing the sense of Congress with respect 
to that agency's regulatory and enforcement authority, within the 
jurisdiction of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, was held not 
germane (Feb. 9, 1984, p. 2423); to a bill authorizing environmental 
research and development activities of an agency for two years, an 
amendment adding permanent regulatory authority for that agency by 
amending a law not within the jurisdiction of the committee reporting 
the bill was held not germane (June 4, 1987, p. 14757); and to a bill 
addressing various research programs and authorities, an amendment 
addressing matters of fiscal and economic policy and regulation was held 
not germane (July 16, 1991, p. ----; Sept. 22, 1992, pp. ---- and ----). 
To a bill reported from the Committee on Armed Services amending several 
laws within that committee's jurisdiction on military procurement and 
policy, an amendment to the Renegotiation Act, a matter within the 
jurisdiction of the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs and 
not solely related to military contracts was held not germane (June 26, 
1985, pp. 17417-19), as was an amendment requiring reports on Soviet 
Union compliance with arms control commitments, a matter exclusively 
within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (Deschler-
Brown Precedents, vol. 10, ch. 28, sec. 4.26). To a bill reported from 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce relating to mentally ill 
individuals, an amendment prohibiting the use of General Revenue Sharing 
funds (within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Government 
Operations) was held not germane (Jan. 30, 1986, p. 1053). To a bill 
reported from the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries authorizing 
various activities of the Coast Guard, an amendment urging the Secretary 
of State in consultation with the Coast Guard to elicit cooperation from 
other nations concerning certain Coast Guard and military operations (a 
matter within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Affairs) was 
held not germane (July 8, 1987, p. 19013). To a bill reauthorizing 
programs administered by two agencies within one committee's 
jurisdiction, an amendment more general in scope affecting agencies 
within the jurisdiction of other committees is not germane (May 12, 
1994, p. ----). 

[[Page 587]]



Sec. 798c. Committee jurisdiction as test of 
germaneness.

  An  amendment when considered as a whole should be within the 
jurisdiction of the committee reporting the bill, although committee 
jurisdiction over the subject of an amendment and of the original bill 
is not the exclusive test of germaneness (Aug. 2, 1973, pp. 27673-75), 
and the Chair relates the amendment to the bill in its perfected form 
(Aug. 17, 1972, p. 28913). To a bill reported from the Committee on 
Agriculture providing price support programs for various agricultural 
commodities, an amendment repealing price control authority for all 
commodities under an act reported from the Committee on Banking and 
Currency is not germane (July 19, 1973, pp. 24950-51). To a bill 
reported from the Committee on Ways and Means providing for a temporary 
increase in the public debt ceiling for the current fiscal year (not 
directly amending the Second Liberty Bond Act), an amendment proposing 
permanent changes in that act and also affecting budget and 
appropriation procedures (matters within the jurisdiction of other House 
committees) was held not germane (Nov. 7, 1973, pp. 36240-41). To a bill 
relating to intelligence activities of the Executive Branch, an 
amendment effecting a change in the rules of the House by directing a 
committee to impose an oath of secrecy on its members and staff was held 
not germane (May 1, 1991, p. ----). To a bill reported by the Committee 
on Government Operations creating an executive agency to protect 
consumers, an amendment conferring on Congressional committees with 
oversight over consumer protection the authority to intervene in 
judicial or administrative proceedings (a rule-making provision within 
the jurisdiction of the Committee on Rules) was ruled not germane (Nov. 
6, 1975, p. 35373). Similarly, to a bill reported from the Committee on 
Government Operations creating a new department, transferring the 
administration of existing laws to it and authorizing appropriations to 
carry out the Act subject to provisions in existing law, an amendment 
prohibiting the use of funds so authorized to carry out a designated 
funding program 


  Committee jurisdiction is not the sole test of germaneness where the 
proposition to which the amendment is offered is so comprehensive 
(overlapping several committees' jurisdictions) as to diminish the 
pertinency of that test and the amendment as offered does not 
demonstrably affect a law within another committee's jurisdiction (July 
21, 1976, pp. 23167-68; Oct. 8, 1985, pp. 26548-51), or where the 
portion of the bill also contains language, related to the amendment, 
not within the jurisdiction of the committee reporting the bill (Apr. 2, 
1976, p. 9254; Aug. 10, 1984, p. 23975), or where the bill has been 
amended to include matter within the jurisdiction of another committee, 
thus permitting further similar amendments to be germane (July 11, 1985, 
pp. 18601-02), or where if offered as a new final title the bill as a 
whole and as amended contains matters within another committee's 
jurisdiction (Sept. 19, 1986, p. 24769). To a bill reported from the 
Committee on Agriculture relating to the food stamp program, an 
amendment requiring the collection from certain recipients of the money 
value of food stamps received, by the Secretary of the Treasury after 
consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, was held germane since 
the performance of new duties by the Secretary of the Treasury and by 
the Internal Revenue Service that do not affect the application of the 
Internal Revenue Code, is not a matter solely within the jurisdiction of 
the Committee on Ways and Means (July 27, 1977, pp. 25249-52).


[[Page 588]]
ity of mortgage interest), a matter within the jurisdiction of the 
Committee on Ways and Means, was held not germane (Aug. 1, 1990, p. ----
).
  But committee jurisdiction is a relevant test where the pending text 
is entirely within one committee's jurisdiction and where the amendment 
falls within another committee's purview (Jan. 29, 1976, p. 1582; July 
25, 1979, pp. 20601-03; June 27, 1985, pp. 17417-19). Thus to a bill 
reported from the Committee on Armed Services authorizing military 
procurement and personnel strengths for one fiscal year, a proposition 
imposing permanent prohibitions and conditions on troop withdrawals from 
the Republic of Korea was held not germane since proposing permanent law 
to a one-year authorization and including statements of policy within 
the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (May 24, 1978, pp. 
15293-95); and to a bill reported from the Committee on Interior and 
Insular Affairs designating certain areas in a State as wilderness, an 
amendment providing unemployment benefits to workers displaced by the 
designation was held not germane (Mar. 21, 1983, p. 6347); to a bill 
reported from the Committee on Education and Labor dealing with 
education, an amendment regulating telephone communications (a matter 
within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Energy and Commerce) was 
held not germane (Apr. 19, 1988, p. 7355); to a bill reported from the 
Committee on Education and Labor authorizing a variety of civilian 
national service programs, an amendment establishing a contingent 
military service obligation (a matter within the selective service 
jurisdiction of the Committee on Armed Services) was held not germane 
(July 28, 1993, p. ----); and to a bill reported by the Committee on 
Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs dealing with housing and community 
development grant and credit programs, an amendment expressing the sense 
of Congress on tax policy (the deductibil

  In a conference report on a House bill reported from the Committee on 
Public Works and Transportation, authorizing funds for local public 
works employment, a Senate amendment to mandate expenditure of already 
appropriated funds (as a purported disapproval of deferral of such funds 
under the Impoundment Control Act) and to set discount rates for 
reclamation and public works projects, subjects within the jurisdictions 
of the Committees on Appropriations and Interior and Insular Affairs, 
was held not germane (Speaker O'Neill, May 3, 1977, pp. 13242-43).

  To a bill amending an existing law to grant to merchant mariners 
benefits ``substantially equivalent to'' those granted to veterans in a 
separate law in the jurisdiction of another committee, an amendment 
directly changing the separate law to extend its benefits to merchant 
mariners was held not germane (Sept. 9, 1992, p. ----); but where the 
pending bill incorporates by reference provisions of a law from another 
committee and conditions the bill's effectiveness upon actions taken 
pursuant to a section of that law, an amendment to alter that section of 
the law may be germane (Apr. 8, 1974, pp. 10108-10).

  The test of the germaneness of an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute for a bill is its relationship to the bill as a whole, and is 
not necessarily determined by the content of an incidental portion of 
the amendment which, if considered separately, might be within the 
jurisdiction of another committee (Aug. 2, 1973, p. 27673; June 1, 1976, 
pp. 16021-25). However, the House may by adopting a special rule allow a 
point of order that a section of a committee amendment in the nature of 
a substitute would not have been germane if offered separately to the 
bill as introduced (May 23 and 24, 1978, pp. 15094-96 and 15293-95; Aug. 
11, 1978, p. 25705).

  The fact that an amendment is offered in conjunction with a motion to 
recommit a bill with instructions does not affect the requirement that 
the subject matter of the amendment be germane and within the 
jurisdiction of the committee reporting the bill (Mar. 2, 1967, p. 
5155). Thus, to a bill reported from the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
addressing U.S. claims against Iraq, a motion to recommit with 
instructions to prohibit the admission of former members of Iraq's armed 
forces to the United States as refugees (a matter within the 
jurisdiction of the Committee on the Judiciary) is not germane (Apr. 28, 
1994, p. ----).


[[Page 589]]
relating to commerce between the States, an amendment relating to 
commerce within the several States (V, 5841); to a proposition to 
relieve destitute citizens of the United States in Cuba, a proposition 
declaring a state of war in Cuba and proclaiming neutrality (V, 5897); 
to a proposition for the appointment of a select committee to 
investigate a certain subject, an amendment proposing an inquiry of the 
Executive on that subject (V, 5891); to a bill granting a right of way 
to a railroad, an amendment providing for the purchase of the railroad 
by the Government (V, 5887); to a provision for the erection of a 
building for a mint, an amendment to change the coinage laws (V, 5884); 
to a resolution proposing expulsion, an amendment proposing censure (VI, 
236); to a resolution authorizing the administration of the oath to a 
Member-elect, an amendment authorizing such oath administration but 
adding several conditions of punishment predicated on acts committed in 
a prior Congress (Jan. 3, 1969, pp. 23-25); to a general tariff bill, an 
amendment creating a tariff board (Chairman Garrett of Tennessee, May 6, 
1913, p. 1234; also Speaker Clark, May 8, 1913, p. 1381); to a 
proposition to sell two battleships and build a new battleship with the 
proceeds, a proposition to devote the proceeds to building wagon roads 
(VIII, 2973).


Sec. 798d. Various tests of germaneness are not 
exclusive.

  The  standards by which the germaneness of an amendment may be 
measured, as set forth in Secs. 798a-c, supra, are not exclusive; an 
amendment and the matter to which offered may be related to some degree 
under the tests of subject matter, purpose, and jurisdiction, and still 
not be considered germane under the precedents. Thus, the following have 
been held not to be germane: To a proposition relating to the terms of 
Senators, an amendment changing the manner of their election (V, 5882); 
to a bill 



[[Page 590]]
for the relief of other persons who are not aliens (May 14, 1975, p. 
14360); to a bill providing relief for agricultural producers, an 
amendment extending such relief to commercial fishermen, another class 
within the jurisdiction of another committee (Apr. 24, 1978, pp. 11080-
81); to a bill governing the political activities of federal civilian 
employees, an amendment to cover members of the uniformed services (June 
7, 1977, pp. 17713-14); to a bill covering the civil service system for 
federal civilian employees, an amendment bringing other classes of 
employees (postal and District of Columbia employees) within the scope 
of the bill (Sept. 7, 1978, pp. 28437-39; Oct. 9, 1985, pp. 26951-54); 
to a portion of an appropriation bill containing funds for a certain 
purpose to be expended by one agency, an amendment containing funds for 
another agency for the same purpose (July 24, 1981, p. 17226); to an 
amendment exempting national defense budget authority from the reach of 
a proposed Presidential rescission authority, an amendment exempting 
social security (Feb. 2, 1995, p. ----); to a Senate amendment striking 
an earmarking from an appropriation bill, a House amendment reinserting 
part of the amount but adding other earmarking for unrelated programs 
(Nov. 15, 1989, p. 29019); to a Senate amendment relating to a 
feasibility study of a land transfer in one state, a House amendment 
requiring an environmental study of land in another state (Nov. 15, 
1989, p. 29035); to a bill prohibiting certain uses of polygraphy in the 
private sector, an amendment applying the terms of the bill to the 
Congress (Nov. 4, 1987, p. 30870); to a bill to determine the 
equitability of federal pay practices under statutory systems applicable 
to agencies of the executive branch, an amendment to extend the scope of 
the determination to pay practices in the legislative branch (ruling 
sustained by Committee of Whole, Sept. 28, 1988, p. 26422); to a special 
appropriation bill providing funds and authority for agricultural credit 
programs but containing no transfers of funds, reappropriations, or 
rescissions, an amendment (contained in a motion to recommit) deriving 
funds for the bill by transfer of unobligated balances in the Energy 
Security Reserve and thus decreasing and transferring funds provided for 
a program unrelated to the subject matter or method of funding provided 
in the bill (Feb. 28, 1985, p. 4146); to a bill prohibiting importation 
of goods ``made in whole or in part by convict, pauper, or detained 
labor, or made in whole or in part from materials that have been made in 
whole or in part in any manner manipulated by convict or prison labor,'' 
an amendment prohibiting importation of goods produced by child labor, a 
second discrete class (VIII, 2963); similarly, to an amendment 
authorizing grants to states for purchase of one class of equipment 
(photographic and fingerprint equipment) for law enforcement purposes, 
an amendment including assistance for the purchase of a different class 
of equipment (bulletproof vests) (Oct. 12, 1979, pp. 28121-24); to a 
bill repealing section 14(b) of the National Labor Relations Act and 
making conforming changes in two related sections of labor law--all 
pertaining solely to the so-called ``right-to-work'' issue--an amendment 
excluding from the applicability of certain labor-management agreements 

[[Page 591]]
members of religious groups (July 28, 1965, p. 18633); to a bill 
relating to the design of certain coin currency, an amendment specifying 
the metal content of other coin currency (Sept. 12, 1973, pp. 29376-77); 
to a proposition to accomplish a single purpose without amending a 
certain existing law, an amendment to accomplish another individual 
purpose by changing that existing law (Dec. 14, 1973, pp. 41723-25); to 
a bill regulating poll closing time in Presidential general elections, 
an amendment extending its provisions to Presidential primary elections 
(Jan. 29, 1986, p. 684); to a bill authorizing grants to private 
entities furnishing health care to underserved populations, an amendment 
authorizing grants to States to control a public health hazard was held 
not germane as relating to a different category of recipient (Mar. 5, 
1986, p. 3604); and to a bill siting a certain type of repository for a 
specified kind of nuclear waste, an amendment prohibiting the 
construction at another site of another type of repository for another 
kind of nuclear waste (July 21, 1992, p. ----).


Sec. 798e. One individual proposition not germane to 
another.

  One  individual proposition may not be amended by another 
individual proposition even though the two belong to the same class 
(VIII, 2951-2953, 2963-2966, 3047; Jan. 29, 1986, p. 684; Oct. 22, 1990, 
p. ----; Oct. 24, 1991, p. ----). Thus, the following are not germane: 
To a bill proposing the admission of one Territory into the Union, an 
amendment for admission of another Territory (V, 5529); to a bill 
amending a law in one particular, amending the law in another particular 
(VIII, 2949); to a proposition to appropriate or to authorize 
appropriations for only one year (and containing no provisions extending 
beyond that year), an amendment to extend the authorization or 
appropriation to another year (VIII, 2913; Nov. 13, 1980, pp. 29523-28; 
see also May 2, 1979, p. 9564; Oct. 12, 1979, pp. 28097-99); to a 
measure earmaking funds in an appropriation bill, an amendment 
authorizing the program for which the appropriation is made (Nov. 15, 
1989, p. 29019); to a bill for the relief of one individual, an 
amendment proposing similar relief for another (V, 5826-5829); to a 
resolution providing a special order for one bill, an amendment to 
include another bill (V, 5834-5836); to a provision for extermination of 
the cotton-boll weevil, an amendment including the gypsy moth (V, 5832); 
to a provision for a clerk for one committee, an amendment for a clerk 
to another committee (V, 5833); to a Senate amendment dealing with use 
of its contingent fund for art restoration in that body, a proposed 
House amendment for use of the House contingent fund for a similar but 
broader purpose (May 24, 1990, p. 12203); to a bill prohibiting 
transportation of messages relative to dealing in cotton futures, an 
amendment adding wheat, corn, etc. (VIII, 3001); to a bill prohibiting 
cotton futures, an amendment prohibiting wheat futures (VIII, 3001); to 
a bill for the relief of certain aliens, an amendment 



[[Page 592]]



Sec. 798f. A general provision not germane to a specific 
subject.

  A  specific subject may not be amended by a provision general in 
nature, even when of the class of the specific subject (V, 5843-5846; 
VIII, 2997, 2998; July 31, 1985, pp. 21832-34; see also Procedure, ch. 
28, sec. 8). Thus the following are not germane: To a bill for the 
admission of one Territory into the Union, an amendment providing for 
the admission of several other Territories (V, 5837); to a bill relating 
to all corporations engaged in interstate commerce, an amendment 
relating to all corporations (V, 5842); to a bill modifying an existing 
law as to one specific particular, an amendment relating to the terms of 
the law other than those dealt with by the bill (V, 5806-5808); to a 
bill amending an existing law in one particular, an amendment amending 
other laws and more comprehensive in scope (Nov. 19, 1993, pp. ----, --
--, ----); to an amendment addressing particular educational 
requirements imposed on educational agencies by the underlying bill, an 
amendment addressing any requirements imposed on educational agencies by 
the underlying bill (Mar. 21, 1994, p. ----); to a bill reauthorizing 
programs administered by the Economic Development Administration and the 
Appalachian Regional Commission, an amendment providing for the waiver 
of any Federal regulation that would interfere with economic development 
(May 12, 1994, p. ----); to a bill amending the war-time prohibition act 
in one particular, an amendment repealing that act (VIII, 2949); to a 
bill proscribing certain picketing in the District of Columbia, an 
amendment making the provisions thereof applicable throughout the United 
States (Aug. 22, 1966, p. 20113); to a bill dealing with enforcement of 
United Nations sanctions against one country in relation to a specific 
trade commodity, an amendment imposing United States sanctions against 
all countries for all commodities and communications (Mar. 14, 1977, pp. 
7446-47); and to a bill authorizing funds for radio broadcasting to 
Cuba, an amendment broadening the bill to include broadcasting to all 
Dictatorships in the Caribbean Basin (Aug. 10, 1982, pp. 20256, 20257). 


  A bill dealing with an individual proposition but rendered general in 
its scope by amendment is then subject to further amendment by 
propositions of the same class (VIII, 3003). While a specific 
proposition covering a defined class may not be amended by a proposition 
more general in scope, the Chair may consider all pending provisions 
being read for amendment in determining the generality of the class 
covered by that proposition (Jan. 30, 1986, p. 1051).


[[Page 593]]
To a bill relating to aircraft altitude over units of the national park 
system, an amendment relating to aircraft collision avoidance generally 
is not germane (Sept. 18, 1986, p. 24084). To a Senate amendment 
prohibiting the use of funds appropriated for a fiscal year for a 
specified purpose, a proposed House amendment prohibiting the use of 
funds appropriated for that or any prior fiscal year for an unrelated 
purpose is not germane (June 30, 1987, p. 18294). To a Senate amendment 
raising an employment ceiling for one year, a House amendment proposing 
also to address in permanent law a hiring preference system for such 
employees is not germane (Oct. 11, 1989, p. 24089). To a Senate 
amendment providing for a training vessel for one state maritime 
academy, a proposed House amendment relating to training vessels for all 
state maritime academies is not germane (June 30, 1987, p. 18296). To a 
bill amending an existing law to authorize a program, an amendment 
restricting authorizations under that or any other act is beyond the 
scope of the bill and not germane (Dec. 10, 1987, p. 34676). To a 
proposition waiving a requirement in existing law that an authorizing 
law be enacted prior to the obligation of certain funds, an amendment 
affirmatively enacting bills containing not only that authorization but 
also other policy matters is not germane as beyond the issue of funding 
availability (Sept. 28, 1988, p. 26108). To a proposition pertaining 
only to a certain appropriation account in a bill, an amendment relating 
not only to that account but also to funds in other acts is more general 
in scope and therefore not germane (Sept. 30, 1988, p. 27148). To an 
omnibus farm bill, with myriad programs to improve agricultural economy, 
an amendment to the Animal Welfare Act but not limited to agricultural 
pursuits was held not germane (Aug. 1, 1990, p. ----).
  To a bill limited in its applicability to certain departments and 
agencies of government, an amendment applicable to all departments and 
agencies is not germane (Sept. 27, 1967, p. 26957). Thus, to a bill 
establishing an office without regulatory authority in the Department of 
the Interior to manage biological information, an amendment addressing 
requirements of compensation for Constitutional takings by other 
regulatory agencies was held not germane (Oct. 26, 1993, p. ----); and 
to a bill amending an authority of an agency under an existing law, an 
amendment independently expressing the sense of Congress on regulatory 
agencies generally was held not germane (May 14, 1992, p. ----). To a 
proposition authorizing activities of certain government agencies for a 
temporary period, an amendment permanently changing existing law to 
cover a broader range of government activities is not germane (May 5, 
1988, p. 9938), and to a bill proposing a temporary change in law, an 
amendment making permanent changes in that law is not germane (Nov. 19, 
1991, p. ----). To a proposition temporarily suspending certain 
requirements of the Clean Air Act, an amendment temporarily suspending 
other requirements of all other environmental protection laws was held 
not germane (Dec. 14, 1973, pp. 41751-52). To a joint resolution 
proposing an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the U.S. or any 
state from denying persons 18 years of age or older the right to vote, 
an amendment requiring the U.S. and all states to treat persons 18 years 
and older as having reached the age of majority for all purposes under 
the law was ruled out as not germane (Mar. 23, 1971, p. 7567). To a bill 
authorizing Federal funding for qualifying State national service 
programs, an amendment conditioning a portion of such funding on the 
enactment of State laws immunizing volunteers in nonprofit or public 
programs, generally, from certain legal liabilities was held not germane 
(July 28, 1993, p. ----). To a bill to enable the Department of HEW to 
investigate and prosecute fraud and abuse in medicare and medicaid 
health programs, a committee amendment to prohibit any officer or 
employee from disclosing any identifiable medical record absent patient 
approval was held not germane (Sept. 23, 1977, pp. 30534-35). To an 
amendment to a budget resolution changing one functional category only, 
an amendment changing several other categories as well as that category, 
and covering an additional fiscal year, is not germane (May 2, 1979, pp. 
9556-64). For an amendment striking from a bill one activity from those 
covered by the law being amended, a substitute striking out the entire 
subsection of the bill, thereby eliminating the applicability of 
existing law to a number of activities, is not germane (Sept. 23, 1982, 
pp. 24963-64). 


[[Page 594]]
ual was held not to be germane (V, 5848-5849). To a proposition 
relating in many diverse respects to the political rights of the people 
of the District of Columbia, an amendment conferring upon that 
electorate the additional right of electing a nonvoting Delegate to the 
Senate was held germane (Oct. 10, 1973, pp. 33656-57). To a bill 
bringing two new categories within the coverage of existing law, an 
amendment to include a third category of the same class was held germane 
(Nov. 27, 1967, p. 33769). To a bill containing definitions of several 
of the terms used therein, an amendment modifying one of the definitions 
and adding another may be germane (Sept. 26, 1967, p. 26878). To a bill 
authorizing a broad program of research and development, an amendment 
directing specific emphasis in the administration of the program is 
germane (Dec. 19, 1973, p. 42607). To a bill providing for investigation 
of relationships between environmental pollution and cancer, an 
amendment to investigate the impact of personal health habits, as 
cigarette smoking, on that relationship was held germane (Sept. 15, 
1976, pp. 30496-98). To a supplemental appropriation bill containing 
funds for several departments and agencies, an amendment in the form of 
a new chapter providing funds for capital outlays for subway 
construction in the District of Columbia was held germane (May 11, 1971, 
p. 14437). To a proposal authorizing military procurement, including 
purchase of food supplies, an amendment authorizing establishment that 
fiscal year of a military preparedness grain reserve was held germane as 
a more specific authorization (July 20, 1982, pp. 17073, 17074, 17092, 
17093). To a Senate amendment providing for prepayment of loans by those 
within a certain class of borrowers who meet a specified criterion, a 
proposed House amendment eliminating the criterion to broaden the 
applicability of the Senate amendment to additional borrowers within the 
same class was held germane (June 30, 1987, p. 18308). To an amendment 
addressing a range of criminal prohibitions, an amendment addressing 
another criminal prohibition within that range was held germane (Oct. 
17, 1991, p. ----).


Sec. 798g. Specific subjects germane to general propositions 
of the class.

  A  general subject may be amended by specific propositions 
of the same class (VIII, 3002, 3009, 3012; see also Procedure, ch. 28, 
sec. 9). Thus, the following have been held to be germane: To a bill 
admitting several Territories into the Union, an amendment adding 
another Territory (V, 5838); to a bill providing for the construction of 
buildings in each of two cities, an amendment providing for similar 
buildings in several other cities (V, 5840); to a resolution embodying 
two distinct phases of international relationship, an amendment 
embodying a third (V, 5839); and to an amendment prohibiting indirect 
assistance to several countries, an amendment to include additional 
countries within that prohibition (Aug. 3, 1978, p. 24244); to a portion 
of a bill providing two categories of economic assistance to foreign 
countries, an amendment adding a further specific category is germane 
(Apr. 9, 1979, pp. 7755-57). And where a bill seeks to accomplish a 
general purpose (support of arts and humanities) by diverse methods, an 
amendment that adds a specific method to accomplish that result (artist 
employment through National Endowment for Arts) may be germane (Apr. 26, 
1976, p. 11101; see also June 12, 1979, p. 14460). But to a resolution 
authorizing a class of employees in the service of the House, an 
amendment providing for the employment of a specified individ



[[Page 595]]
ent of federal assistance (a class not necessarily covered by the class 
covered by the bill), were ruled not to be germane (June 26, 1984, pp. 
18847, 18857, and 18861). But to the same bill, an amendment merely 
defining a word used in the bill was held germane (June 26, 1984, p. 
18865). Unless a bill so extensively amends existing law as to open up 
the entire law to amendment, the germaneness of an amendment to the bill 
depends on its relationship to the subject of the bill and not to the 
entire law being amended (Oct. 28, 1975, p. 34031). But a bill amending 
several sections of an existing law may be sufficiently broad to permit 
amendments that are germane to other sections of that law not mentioned 
in the bill (Feb. 19, 1975, p. 3596; Sept. 14, 1978, pp. 29487-88). To a 
bill continuing and re-enacting an existing law amendments germane to 
the existing act sought to be continued have been held germane to the 
pending bill (VIII, 2940, 2941, 2950, 3028; Oct. 31, 1963, p. 20728; 
June 1, 1976, pp. 16045-46); but where a bill merely extends an 
official's authority under existing law, an amendment permanently 
amending that law has been held not in order (Sept. 29, 1969, pp. 27341-
43). Thus where a bill authorized appropriations to an agency for one 
year but did not amend the organic law by extending the existence of 
that agency, an amendment extending the life of another entity mentioned 
in the organic law was held not germane (May 20, 1976, pp. 14912-13). An 
amendment making permanent changes in the law relating to organization 
of an agency is not germane to a title of a bill only authorizing 
appropriations for such agency for one fiscal year (Nov. 29, 1979, p. 
34090); to a general appropriation bill providing funds for one fiscal 
year, an amendment changing a permanent appropriation in existing law 
and changing Congressional procedures for consideration of that general 
appropriation bill in future years is more general in scope and in part 
within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Rules and therefore is not 
germane (June 29, 1987, p. 18083); and to a temporary authorization bill 
prescribing the use of an agency's funds for two years but not amending 
permanent law, an amendment permanently changing the organic law 
governing that agency's operations is not germane (Dec. 2, 1982, pp. 
28537-38, concerning Sept. 28, 1982, p. 25465). However, to a bill 
authorizing appropriations for a department for one fiscal year, where 
the effect of the department's activities pursuant to that authorization 
may extend beyond such year, an amendment directing a specific use of 
those funds to perform an activity that may not be completed within the 
fiscal year was nevertheless germane, since limited to funds in the bill 
(Oct. 18, 1979, pp. 28763-64). Similarly, to a one-year authorization 
bill containing diverse limitations and directions to the agency in 
question during such year, an amendment further directing the agency to 
obtain information from the private sector, and to make such information 
public during such year, was held germane (Oct. 18, 1979, pp. 28815-17). 
While an amendment making a permanent change in existing law has been 
held not germane to a bill proposing a temporary change in that law, 
where it is apparent that the fundamental purpose of the amendment is to 
have only temporary effect 

[[Page 596]]
and to accomplish the same result as the bill it may be germane. Thus 
to a bill providing a temporary extension of existing authority, an 
amendment achieving the same purpose by providing a nominally permanent 
authority was held germane where both the bill and the amendment were 
based on reported economic projections under which either would achieve 
the same, necessarily temporary result by method of direct or indirect 
amendment to the same existing law (May 13, 1987, p. 12344). However, to 
a proposal continuing the availability of appropriated funds and also 
imposing diverse legislative conditions upon the availability of 
appropriations, an amendment directly and permanently changing existing 
law as to the eligibility of recipients of funds was held to be 
nongermane (Dec. 10, 1981, pp. 30536-38). To a bill extending an 
existing law in modified form, an amendment proposing further 
modification of that law may be germane (Apr. 23, 1969, p. 10067; Feb. 
19, 1975, p. 3596). But to a bill amending a law in one particular, an 
amendment repealing the law is not germane (Jan. 14, 1964, p. 423). To a 
bill amending a general law in several particulars, an amendment 
providing for the repeal of the whole law was held germane (V, 5824), 
but the bill amending the law must so vitally affect the whole law as to 
bring the entire act under consideration before the Chair will hold an 
amendment repealing the law or amending any section of the law germane 
to the bill (VIII, 2944; Apr. 2, 1924, p. 5437). Where a bill repeals a 
provision of law, an amendment modifying that provision rather than 
repealing it may be germane (Oct. 30, 1969, p. 32466); but the 
modification must relate to the provision of law being repealed (July 
28, 1965, p. 18636). Generally to a bill amending one existing law, an 
amendment changing the provisions of another law or prohibiting 
assistance under any other law is not germane (May 11, 1976, p. 13419; 
Aug. 12, 1992, p. ----). To a bill amending the Bretton Woods Act in 
relation to the International Monetary Fund, an amendment prohibiting 
the alienation of gold to the IMF or to any other international 
organization or its agents was held not germane (July 27, 1976, pp. 
24040-41). However, to a bill comprehensively amending several laws 
within the same class, an amendment further amending one of those laws 
on a subject within that class is germane (May 12, 1976, p. 13530); and 
to a bill authorizing funding for the intelligence community for one 
fiscal year and making diverse changes in permanent laws relating 
thereto, an amendment changing another permanent law to address 
accountability for intelligence activites was held germane (Oct. 17, 
1990, p. ----). To a title of a bill dealing with a number of unrelated 
authorities of the Secretary of Agriculture, an amendment amending 
another act within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Agriculture to 
require the adoption of a minimum standard for the contents of ice cream 
was held germane since restricted to the authority of the Secretary of 
Agriculture (July 22, 1977, pp. 24558-70). But to a section of a bill 
amending a section of the National Labor Relations Act dealing with 
procedural rules governing labor elections and organizations, an 
amendment changing the same section of law to require promulgation 

[[Page 597]]
of rules defining certain conduct as an unfair labor practice was held 
not germane, where neither the pending section nor the bill itself 
addressed the subject of unfair labor practices dealt with in another 
section of the law (Oct. 5, 1977, pp. 32507-08). To a bill narrowly 
amending one subsection of existing law dealing with one specific 
criminal activity, an amendment postponing the effective date of the 
entire section, affecting other criminal provisions and classes of 
persons as well as the one amended by the bill, or an amendment to 
another subsection of the law dealing with a related but separate 
prohibition was held not germane (May 16, 1979, pp. 11470-72), but to an 
amendment adding sundry punitive sections to the Federal criminal code, 
an amendment creating an exception to the prohibition of another such 
section was held germane (Oct. 17, 1991, p. ----).


Sec. 799. Amendments to bills amending existing law.

  To  a 
bill amending a general law on a specific point an amendment relating to 
the terms of the law rather than to those of the bill was ruled not to 
be germane (V, 5808; VIII, 2707, 2708); thus a bill amending several 
sections of one title of the United States Code does not necessarily 
bring the entire title under consideration so as to permit an amendment 
to any portion thereof (Oct. 11, 1967, p. 28649), and where a bill 
amends existing law in one narrrow particular, an amendment proposing to 
modify such existing law in other particulars will generally be ruled 
out as not germane (Aug. 16, 1967, p. 22768; VIII, 2709, 2839, 3013, 
3031; May 12, 1976, p. 13532). To a bill narrowly amending an anti-
discrimination provision in the Education Amendments of 1972 only to 
clarify the definition of a discriminating entity subject to the 
statutory penalties (denial of federal funding), amendments re-defining 
a class of discrimination (sex), expanding the definition of persons who 
are the subject of discrimination (to include the unborn), and deeming a 
new entity (Congress) to be a recipi



[[Page 598]]
by the bill may be germane, so long as not amending a rule of the House 
(June 11, 1991, p. ----). To a title of a bill limiting in several 
respects an official's authority to construe legal authorities 
transferred to him in the bill, an amendment further restricting his 
authority to construe under any circumstances certain other laws to be 
administered by him was held germane as an additional, although more 
restrictive, curtailment of existing authorities transferred by the bill 
(June 11, 1979, pp. 14226-38).


Sec. 800. Amendments imposing conditions, 
qualifications, and limitations.

  Restrictions,  qualifications, and limitations 
sought to be added by way of amendment must be germane to the provisions 
of the bill. Thus, to a bill authorizing the funding of a variety of 
programs that satisfy several stated requirements, in order to 
accomplish a general purpose, an amendment conditioning the availability 
of those funds upon implementation by their recipients of another 
program related to that general purpose is germane (June 18, 1973, pp. 
20100-01); an amendment delaying operation of a proposed enactment 
pending an ascertainment of a fact is germane when the fact to be 
ascertained relates solely to the subject matter of the bill (VIII, 
3029; Dec. 15, 1982, pp. 30957-61); to a bill authorizing funds for 
military procurement and construction, an amendment declaring that none 
of the funds be used to carry out military operations in North Vietnam 
was held germane (Mar. 2, 1967, p. 5143). To a bill authorizing the 
insurance of vessels, an amendment denying such insurance to vessels 
charging exorbitant rates is germane (VIII, 3023), and to a bill 
authorizing changes in railroad rates, an amendment is germane which 
provides that such changes shall not include increases in rates (VIII, 
3022). To a bill authorizing humanitarian and evacuation assistance to 
war refugees, an amendment making such authorization contingent on a 
report to Congress on costs of a portion of the evacuation program (but 
not requiring implementation of any new program) is germane (Apr. 23, 
1975, p. 11529), and to a bill authorizing an agency to undertake 
certain activities, an amendment allowing Congress to disapprove 
regulations issued pursuant thereto is a germane restriction if the 
disapproval mechanism does not amend the rules or procedures of the 
House (May 4, 1976, p. 12348). An amendment proposing changes in the 
rules of the House by providing a privileged procedure for expedited 
review of an agency's regulations is not germane to a proposition not 
containing such changes (Aug. 13, 1982, pp. 20969, 20975-78); to a bill 
directing the furnishing of certain intelligence information to the 
House but not amending any House procedure, an amendment imposing 
relevant conditions of security on the handling of such information in 
committee for the period covered 



[[Page 599]]
funds (July 26, 1973, p. 26210). Similarly, to a bill authorizing 
certain housing programs, an amendment restricting the amounts of direct 
spending in the bill to the levels set in the concurrent resolution on 
the budget was held germane as merely a measure of availability of funds 
in the bill and not a provision directly affecting the Congressional 
budget process (June 11, 1987, p. 15540).
  But it is not in order to amend a bill to delay the effectiveness of 
the legislation pending an unrelated contingency (VIII, 3035, 3037), 
such as the enactment of state legislation (June 29, 1967, p. 17921; 
July 28, 1993, p. ----). Thus an amendment delaying the bill's 
effectiveness or availability of authorizations pending unrelated 
determinations involving agencies and committee jurisdictions not within 
the purview of the bill is not germane (Feb. 7, 1973, pp. 3708-09; July 
8 and 9, 1981, p. 15010 and p. 15218), and to a bill authorizing 
military assistance to Israel and funds for a U.N. Emergency Force in 
the Middle East, an amendment postponing the availability of funds to 
Israel until the President certifies the existence of a designated level 
of domestic energy supplies is not germane (Dec. 11, 1973, p. 40837). An 
amendment conditioning the availability of funds to certain recipients 
based upon their compliance with Federal law not otherwise applicable to 
them and within the jurisdiction of other House committees may be ruled 
out as not germane (conditioning defense funds for procurement contracts 
with foreign contractors on their compliance with domestic law regarding 
discrimination) (June 16, 1983, p. 16060). An amendment delaying the 
availability of an appropriation pending the enactment of certain 
revenue legislation into law is an unrelated contingency and is not 
germane (Oct. 25, 1979, pp. 29639-40). An amendment conditioning the use 
of funds on the conduct of Congressional hearings addressing an 
unrelated subject is not germane (July 22, 1994, p. ----). However, an 
amendment to an authorization bill that conditions the expenditure of 
funds covered by the bill by restricting their availability during 
months in which there is an increase in the public debt may be germane 
as long as the amendment does not directly affect other provisions of 
law or impose contingencies predicated upon other unrelated actions of 
Congress (Sept. 25, 1979, pp. 26150-52); an amendment proposing a 
conditional restriction on the availability of funds to carry out an 
activity, that merely requires observation of similar activities of 
another country, which similar conduct already constitutes the policy 
basis for the funding of that governmental activity, may be germane as a 
related contingency (May 16, 1984, p. 12510); and an amendment 
restricting the payment of Federal funds in a bill to States that enact 
certain laws relating to the activities being funded may be germane 
(July 28, 1993, p. ----). Likewise, an amendment that conditions the 
obligation or expenditure of funds authorized in the bill by adopting as 
a measure of their availability the expenditure during the fiscal year 
of a comparable percentage of funds authorized by other acts is germane 
as long as the amendment does not directly affect the use of other 

  To a bill requiring that a certain percentage of autos sold in the 
U.S. be manufactured domestically, and imposing an import restriction 
for autos on persons violating that requirement, an amendment waiving 
those restrictions with respect to a foreign nation where the President 
has issued a proclamation that that nation is not imposing unfair import 
restrictions on any U.S. product was held to be a non-germane and 
unrelated contingency, dealing with overall trade issues rather than 
domestic content requirement for autos sold in the U.S. (Nov. 2, 1983, 
p. 30776). But an amendment to the same bill prohibiting its 
implementation if resulting in U.S. violation to resolve conflicts under 
those agreements, was held germane since the bill already 
comprehensively addressed those subject matters by ``disclaiming'' any 
purpose to amend international agreements or to confer court 
jurisdiction relative thereto, and by conferring court jurisdiction over 
adjudication of penalties assessed under the bill (Nov. 2, 1983, p. 
30546).

  To a bill regulating immigration, an amendment providing that the 
operation of the act should not conflict with an agreement with Japan is 
not germane (VIII, 3050), to a bill proposing relief for women and 
children in Germany, an amendment delaying the effectiveness of such 
relief until a soldier's compensation act shall have been enacted is not 
germane (VIII, 3035), and to a bill authorizing radio broadcasting to 
Cuba, an amendment prohibiting the use of those funds until Congress has 
considered a Constitutional Amendment mandating a balanced budget is not 
germane (Aug. 10, 1982, p. 20250). To a proposition conditioning the 
availability of funds upon the enactment of an authorizing statute for 
the enforcing agency, a substitute conditioning the availability of some 
of those funds upon a prohibition of certain imports into the U.S. is 
not germane, a contingency unrelated to that to which offered (Nov. 7, 
1985, pp. 30984-85). It is not germane to condition assistance to a 
particular class of recipient covered by the bill upon an unrelated 
contingency such as action or inaction by another class of recipient or 
agent not covered by the bill (Mar. 5, 1986, p. 3613). However, while a 
bill relating to benefits based on indemnification of liability arising 
out of an activity does not ordinarily admit as germane amendments 
relating to regulation of that activity, an amendment conditioning 
benefits upon agreement by its recipient to be governed by certain 
safety regulations may be germane if related to the activity giving rise 
to the liability (July 29, 1987, p. 21448).


[[Page 600]]
funds being withheld and cannot affect other funds in the bill not 
related to that factual situation; thus to a general appropriation bill 
containing funds not only for a former President but also for other 
departments and agencies, an amendment delaying the availability of all 
funds in the bill until the former President had made restitution of a 
designated amount of money was held not germane (Oct. 2, 1974, pp. 
33620-21). But an amendment postponing the effective date of a title of 
a bill to a date certain is germane (July 25, 1973, p. 25828), as is an 
amendment to an authorization bill that conditions the obligation of 
funds therein by adopting as a measure of their availability the 
expenditure during that fiscal year of a comparable percentage of funds 
authorized by other Acts, if the amendment does not directly affect the 
use of other funds (July 26, 1973, p. 26210); and an amendment that 
conditions the availability of funds covered by a bill by adopting as a 
measure of their availability the monthly increases in the public debt 
may be germane so long as the amendment does not directly affect other 
provisions of law or impose unrelated contingencies (Sept. 25, 1979, pp. 
26150-52). To a provision to become effective immediately, an amendment 
deferring the time at which it shall become effective, without involving 
affirmative legislation, was held germane (VIII, 3030). To a bill 
authorizing defense assistance to a foreign nation, an amendment 
delaying the availability of that assistance until that nation's former 
ambassador testified before a House committee, which had been directed 
by the House to investigate gifts by that nation's representatives to 
influence Members and employees, was held germane as a contingency that 
sought to compel the furnishing of information related to efforts to 
induce defense assistance to that nation (Aug. 2, 1978, pp. 23932-33).
  While it may be in order on a general appropriation bill to delay the 
availability of certain funds therein if the contingency does not impose 
new duties on executive officials, the contingency must be related to 
the 

  Where a proposition confers broad discretionary power on an executive 
official, an amendment is germane which directs that official to take 
certain actions in the exercise of the authority. Thus to an amendment 
in the nature of a substitute authorizing the Federal Energy 
Administrator to restrict exports of certain energy resources, an 
amendment directing that official to prohibit the exportation of 
petroleum products for use in Indochina military operations was held 
germane (Dec. 14, 1973, p. 41753). But it is not in order by way of 
amendment to a bill authorizing funds for military assistance to certain 
foreign countries, to make the availability of those funds contingent 
upon efforts by those countries to control narcotic traffic to the U.S., 
and to authorize the President to offer the assistance of federal 
agencies for that purpose, where the subjects of narcotics and the 
accessibility of federal agencies are not contained in the bill (June 
17, 1971, pp. 20589-90).


[[Page 601]]
tween the student's home and the closest school was held germane (Dec. 
13, 1973, pp. 41267-69). Similarly, a bill providing for the deportation 
of aliens may be amended to exempt a portion of such aliens from 
deportation (VIII, 3029), a bill providing aid to shipping may be 
amended to limit such aid to ships equipped with saving devices (VIII, 
3027), a bill prohibiting the issuance of injunctions by the courts in 
labor disputes may be amended to except all labor disputes affecting 
public utilities (VIII, 3024), and to a proposition denying benefits to 
recipients failing to meet a certain qualification, a substitute denying 
the same benefits to some recipients but excepting others is germane 
(July 28, 1982, pp. 18355-58, 18361). To a bill extending the 
authorities of one government agency, including requirements for 
consultation with several other agencies, an amendment requiring that 
agency to perform a function based upon an analysis furnished by yet 
another agency was held germane as an additional limitation on the 
authority of the agency being extended which did not separately mandate 
the performance of an unrelated function by another entity (July 27, 
1978, pp. 23107-08). To a proposition authorizing a program to be 
undertaken, a substitute providing for a study to determine the 
feasibility of undertaking the same type of program may be germane as a 
more limited approach involving the same agency (June 26, 1985, pp. 
17453, 17458, and 17460) (in effect overruling VIII, 2989).
  Where a provision delegates certain authority, an amendment proposing 
to limit such authority is germane (VIII, 3022); to a provision 
conferring presidential authority to establish priorities among users of 
petroleum products and requiring priority to education and 
transportation users, an amendment restricting such regulatory authority 
by requiring that petroleum products allocated for public school 
transportation be used only be


[[Page 602]]
1600), and may not be made applicable to a trust fund provided (IV, 
4017) or to money appropriated in other acts (IV, 3927; VII, 1495, 1597-
1599). Thus to a general appropriation bill providing funds for the 
Department of Agriculture and including specific allocation of funds for 
pest control, an amendment was germane that prohibited the use of funds 
for use of presticides prohibited by state or local law (May 26, 1969, 
p. 13753). But to a provision prohibiting aid to a certain country 
unless certain conditions were met, an amendment prohibiting aid to 
another country until that nation took certain acts, and referring to 
funds provided in other acts, was not germane (Nov. 17, 1967, p. 32968). 
To a proposal to restrict availability of agency funds for a year and 
amending the organic law as it relates to the internal functions 
thereof, an amendment further restricting funding but also applying 
``with respect to the use of funds in the bill'' provisions of criminal 
and other laws not applicable thereo was held not germane (Oct. 26, 
1989, p. 26269). See also Procedure, ch. 28, sec. 22-27.

  An amendment seeking to restrict the use of funds must be limited to 
the subject matter and scope of the provisions sought to be amended; to 
a bill authorizing funds for foreign assistance, an amendment placing 
restrictions on funds authorized or appropriated in prior years is not 
germane (Aug. 24, 1967, p. 24002), and to an amendment changing a dollar 
amount in a bill, a substitute therefor not only changing the figure but 
also restricting the use of any funds in furtherance of a certain 
activity is not germane (June 7, 1972, p. 19920). To a proposition 
restricting the availability of funds to a certain category of 
recipients, an amendment further restricting the availability of funds 
to a subcategory of the same recipients is germane (Sept. 25, 1979, pp. 
26135-43), and to a bill authorizing appropriations for an agency, an 
amendment to prohibit the use of such funds for any purpose to which the 
funds may otherwise be applied is germane (Nov. 5, 1981, p. 26716). To a 
provision authorizing funds for a fiscal year, an amendment restricting 
the availability of funds appropriated pursuant thereto for a specified 
purpose until enactment of a subsequent law authorizing that purpose is 
germane (July 21, 1983, p. 20198). To an amendment precluding the 
availability of an authorization for part of a fiscal year and then 
permitting availability for the remainder of the year based upon a 
contingency, an amendment constituting a prohibition on the availability 
of the same funds for the entire fiscal year is a germane alternative 
(May 16, 1984, p. 12567). A legislative amendment to an appropriation 
bill must not only retrench expenditures under clause 2 of rule XXI but 
must also be germane to the provisions to which offered. A limitation 
must apply solely to the money of the appropriation under consideration 
(VII, 1596, 




Sec. 801. Dilatory motions pending motions to suspend 
rules.

  8.  Pending a motion to suspend the rules, the Speaker may 
entertain one motion that the House adjourn; but after the result 
thereon is announced he shall not entertain any other motion till the 
vote is taken on suspension.



  This clause of the rule was adopted in 1868 (V, 5743), and amended in 
1911 (VIII, 2823). A motion for a recess (V, 5748-5751) and for a call 
of the House when there was no doubt of the presence of a quorum (V, 
5747) were held to be dilatory motions within the meaning of the rule. 
But where a motion to suspend the rules has been made and, after one 
motion to adjourn has been acted on, a quorum has failed, another motion 
to adjourn has been admitted (V, 5744-5746).




Sec. 802. Privileged motion for consideration of revenue 
and appropriation bills.

  9.  At any time after the reading of the Journal 
it shall be in order, by direction of the appropriate committees, to 
move that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole House 
on the state of the Union for the purpose of considering bills raising 
revenue, or general appropriation bills.




[[Page 603]]

  As early as 1835 the necessity of giving the appropriation bills 
precedence became apparent, and in 1837 a rule was adopted that 
established the principle that continues in the present rule (IV, 3072). 


<>   10. No dilatory motion shall be 
entertained by the Speaker.

  Although clause 4(a) of rule XI was amended by the Committee Reform 
Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., 
Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), to eliminate the authority of the Committee on 
Ways and Means to report as privileged bills raising revenue (see 
Sec. 726, supra), this clause was not changed, but the privileged nature 
of the motion under this clause with respect to revenue bills was 
derived from and was dependent upon the former privilege conferred upon 
the Committee on Ways and Means under clause 4(a) of rule XI to report 
revenue measures to the House at any time (IV, 3076). When both types of 
reports were privileged under that rule prior to the 94th Congress, 
motions to consider revenue bills and appropriation bills were of equal 
privilege (IV, 3075, 3076). The motion may designate the particular 
appropriation bill to be considered (IV, 3074). The motion is privileged 
at any time after the approval of the Journal (subject to relevant 
report and hearing availability requirements), but only if offered at 
the direction of the committee (July 23, 1993, p. ----). The motion is 
in order on District Mondays (VI, 716-718; VII, 876, 1123); and takes 
precedence of the motion to go into Committee of the Whole House to 
consider the Private Calendar (IV, 3082-3085; VI, 719, 720). Before the 
adoption of clause 4 of rule XIII it could be made on a ``suspension 
day'' as on other days (IV, 3080). On Wednesdays the privilege of the 
motion is limited by clause 7 of rule XXIV. It may not be amended (VI, 
52, 723), debated (VI, 716), laid on the table, or indefinitely 
postponed (VI, 726), and the previous question may not be demanded on it 
(IV, 3077-3079). Although highly privileged, it may not take precedence 
of a motion to reconsider (IV, 3087), or a motion to change the 
reference of a bill (VII, 2124). The motion is less highly privileged 
than the motion to discharge a committee from further consideration of a 
bill under clause 3 of rule XXVII (VII, 1011, 1016), and on consent days 
the call of the former Consent Calendar (abolished in the 104th 
Congress) took precedence (VII, 986).

  This clause was adopted in 1890 (V, 5706) to make permanent a 
principle already enunciated in a ruling of the Speaker, who had 
declared that the ``object of a parliamentary body is action, not 
stoppage of action'' (V, 5713).


[[Page 604]]
ation (V, 5731-5733). The point of ``no quorum'' has also been ruled 
out (V, 5724-5730; VIII, 2801, 2808), and clause 6 of rule XV, as 
adopted in the 93d Congress and as amended in the 95th Congress prevents 
the making of a point of no quorum under certain circumstances. A demand 
for tellers has been held dilatory (V, 5735, 5736; VIII, 2436, 2818-
2821); but the constitutional right of the Member to demand the yeas and 
nays may not be overruled (V, 5737; VIII, 3107). (For ruling by Speaker 
Gillett construing dilatory motions, see VIII, 2804.) See also 
Sec. 729a, supra, for discussion of dilatory motions pending 
consideration of Rules Committee report, and Sec. 874, infra, for rule 
prohibiting offering of dilatory amendments printed in Record.




[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 604-609]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-101]

 
  The Speaker has declined to entertain debate or appeal on a question 
as to the dilatoriness of a motion, as to do so would be to nullify the 
rule (V, 5731); but has recognized that the authority conferred by the 
rule should not be exercised until the object of the dilatory motion 
``becomes apparent to the House'' (V, 5713-5714). Usually, but not 
always, the Speaker awaits a point of order from the floor before acting 
(V, 5715-5722). The rule has been applied to the motions to adjourn (V, 
5721, 5731-5733; VIII, 2796, 2813), to reconsider (V, 5735; VIII, 2797, 
2815, 2822), to fix the time of five-minute debate in Committee of the 
Whole (V, 5734; VIII, 2817), and to lay on the table (VIII, 2816); and 
to the question of consider


                               Rule XVII.


                           PREVIOUS QUESTION.




Sec. 804. The previous question.

  1.  There shall be a motion 
for the previous question, which, being ordered by a majority of Members 
voting, if a quorum be present, shall have the effect to cut off all 
debate and bring the House to a direct vote upon the immediate question 
or questions on which it has been asked and ordered. The previous 
question may be asked and ordered upon a single motion, a series of 
motions allowable under the rules, or an amendment or amendments, or may 
be made to embrace all authorized motions or amendments and include the 
bill to its passage or rejection. It shall be in order, pending the 
motion for, or after the previous question shall have been ordered on 
its passage, for the Speaker to entertain and submit a motion to commit, 
with or without instructions, to a standing or select committee.



[[Page 605]]
to commit pending the motion for the previous question or after the 
previous question is ordered to passage was added (V, 5443). From 1880 
to 1890, the previous question could only be ordered to the engrossment 
and third reading, and then again ordered on passage, but in 1890 the 
rule was changed to permit ordering the previous question to final 
passage (V, 5443).
  The House adopted a rule for the previous question in 1789, but it was 
not turned into an instrument for closing debate until 1811. The history 
of the motion for the previous question is discussed in V, 5443, 5446; 
VIII, 2661. In 1880, the previous question rule was amended to apply to 
single motions or a series of motions as well as to amendments, and the 
motion 



Sec. 805. Effect of previous question on 
debate.

  The  previous question is the only motion used for closing debate 
in the House itself (V, 5456; VIII, 2662). It is not in order in 
Committee of the Whole (IV, 4716; Apr. 25, 1990, p. ----) but is in 
order in the House as in Committee of the Whole (VI, 639). The motion 
may not include a provision that it shall take effect at a certain time 
(V, 5457). Forty minutes of debate are allowed whenever the previous 
question is ordered on a proposition on which there has been no debate 
(V, 6821; VIII, 2689; Sept. 13, 1965, p. 23602; see clause 2 of rule 
XXVII); but if there has been debate, even though brief, before the 
ordering of the previous question, the forty minutes are not allowed (V, 
5499-5501). This preliminary debate should be on the merits of the 
question if the forty minutes of debate are to be denied for reason of 
it (V, 5502). The forty minutes should be demanded before division has 
begun on the main question (V, 5496). It may not be demanded on 
incidental motions, but is confined to the main question (V, 5497, 5498; 
VIII, 2687). It may not be demanded on a proposition that has been 
debated in Committee of the Whole (V, 5505), or on a conference report 
if the subject matter of the report was debated before being sent to 
conference (V, 5506, 5507). When the previous question is ordered merely 
on an amendment that has not been debated, the forty minutes are allowed 
(V, 5503); but the same liberty of debate is not allowed when the 
question covers both an undebated amendment and the original proposition 
(V, 5504). It was also denied on a resolution to correct an error in an 
enrolled bill (V, 5508). The forty minutes is divided, one half to those 
favoring and the other half to those opposing (V, 5495).



[[Page 606]]
4926-4929; VI, 639), but it may not be moved on a single section of a 
bill (IV, 4930). When ordered on a resolution with a preamble there is 
doubt of its application to the preamble, unless the motion specifies 
(V, 5469, 5470). It may be moved on a series of resolutions, but this 
does not preclude a division of the resolutions on the vote (V, 5468), 
although where two propositions on which the previous question is moved 
are related, as in the case of a special order reported from the 
Committtee on Rules and a pending amendment thereto, a division is not 
in order (Sept. 25, 1990, p. ----). The previous question is often 
ordered on undebatable propositions to prevent amendment (V, 5473, 
5490), but may not be moved on a motion that is both undebatable and 
unamendable (IV, 3077). It applies to questions of privilege as to other 
questions (II, 1256; V, 5459, 5460; VIII, 2672).


Sec. 806. Application of the previous 
question.

  The  provisions of the rule define the application of the 
previous question with considerable accuracy. It may not be moved on 
more than one bill except by the unanimous consent of the House (V, 
5461-5465), or on motions to agree to a conference report and also to 
dispose of differences not included in the report (V, 5464) and when 
ordered on a motion to send to conference applies to that motion alone 
and does not extend to a subsequent motion to instruct conferees (VIII, 
2675). It may apply to the main question and a pending motion to refer 
(V, 5466; VI, 373; VIII, 2678), or to a pending resolution and a pending 
amendment thereto (Sept. 25, 1990, p. ----). When a bill is reported 
from the Committee of the Whole with the recommendation that the 
enacting words be stricken out, it may be applied to the motion to 
concur without covering further action on the bill (V, 5342). During 
consideration ``in the House as in Committee of the Whole'' it may be 
demanded while Members still desire to offer amendments (IV, 



[[Page 607]]



Sec. 807. The right to move the previous 
question.

  The  Member in charge of the bill and having the floor may demand 
the previous question although another Member may propose a motion of 
higher privilege (VIII, 2684), but the motion of higher privilege must 
be put first (V, 5480; VIII, 2609, 2684), and if the Member in charge of 
the bill claims the floor in debate another Member may not demand the 
previous question (II, 1458); but having the floor, unless yielded to 
for debate only, any Member may make the motion although the effect may 
be to deprive the Member in charge of the bill (V, 5476; VIII, 2685). 
The Member who has called up a measure in the House has priority of 
recognition to move the previous question thereon, even over the 
chairman of the reporting committee (Oct. 1, 1986, p. 27468). And if, 
after debate, the Member in charge of the bill does not move the 
previous question, another Member may (V, 5475); but where a Member 
intervenes on a pending proceeding to make a preferential motion, such 
as the motion to recede from a disagreement with the Senate, he may not 
move the previous question on that motion as against the rights of the 
Member in charge (II, 1459), and the Member in charge is entitled to 
recognition to move the previous question even after he has surrendered 
the floor in debate (VIII, 2682, 3231). Where a Member controlling the 
time on a bill or resolution in the House yields for the purpose of 
amendment, another Member may move the previous question before the 
Member offering the amendment is recognized to debate it (Nov. 8, 1971, 
p. 39944; July 24, 1979, p. 20385). Where under a rule of the House 
debate time on a motion or proposition is equally divided and controlled 
by the majority and the minority, or between those in favor and those 
opposed (see, e.g., clauses 1, 2, 4, and 5 of rule XXVIII), or where a 
block of time for debate has been yielded by the manager, the previous 
question may not be moved until the other side has used or yielded back 
its time; and the Chair may vacate the adoption of the previous question 
where it was improperly moved while the other side was still seeking 
time (Oct. 3, 1989, p. 22842). The previous question may not be demanded 
on a proposition against which a point of order is pending (VIII, 3433).




Sec. 808. The motion to commit in relation to the previous 
question.

  The  motion to commit under this rule applies to resolutions of 
the House alone as well as to bills (V, 5572, 5573; VIII, 2742), and to 
a motion to amend the Journal (V, 5574). It does not apply to a report 
from the Committee on Rules providing a special order of business (V, 
5593-5601; VIII, 2270, 2750), or to a pending amendment to a proposition 
in the House (V, 5573). Although a motion to commit under this clause, 
with instructions to report forthwith with an amendment, has been 
allowed after the previous question has been ordered on a motion to 
dispose of Senate amendments before the stage of disagreement (V, 5575; 
VIII, 2744, 2745), a motion to commit under this rule does not apply to 
a motion disposing of Senate amendments after the stage of disagreement 
where utilized to displace a pending preferential motion (Speaker 
Albert, Sept. 16, 1976, pp. 30887-88).


  The motion to commit may be made pending the demand for the previous 
question on the passage, whether a bill or resolution be under 
consideration (V, 5576); but when the demand covers all stages of the 
bill to the final passage the motion to commit is made only after the 
third reading, and is not in order pending the demand or before the 
engrossment or third reading (V, 5578-5581). When separate motions for 
the previous question are made, respectively, on the third reading and 
on the passage of a bill, the motion to commit should be made only after 
the previous question is ordered on the passage (V, 5577). When the 
previous question has been ordered on a simple resolution (as 
distinguished from a joint resolution) and a pending amendment, the 
motion to commit should be made after the vote on the amendment (V, 
5585-5588). A motion to commit has been entertained after ordering of 
the previous question even before the adoption of rules at the beginning 
of a Congress (VIII, 2755; Jan. 5, 1981, p. 111). It was formerly held 
that the opponents of a bill had no claim to prior recognition to make 
the motion (II, 1456), but under clause 4 of rule XVI the prior right to 
recognition is given to an opponent on a bill or joint resolution 
pending final passage. The right to move to recommit a House bill with a 
Senate amendment belongs to a Member who is opposed to the whole bill in 
preference to a Member who is merely opposed to the Senate amendment 
(VIII, 2772). When the House refused to order a bill to be engrossed and 
read a third time the motion to commit may not be made (V, 5602, 5603).


[[Page 608]]

  An opponent, preferably a Minority Member in order of seniority on the 
committee reporting the measure or a similar measure, has priority of 
recognition to offer a motion to commit a simple or concurrent 
resolution under this clause (VIII, 2764; Nov. 28, 1979, p. 33914; 
Procedure, ch. 23, sec. 13.1), but a motion under this clause to commit 
a resolution called up in the House as a privileged matter and not 
previously referred to committee does not depend on party affiliation or 
on opposition to the resolution (Speaker Albert, Feb. 19, 1976, p. 
3920). 

  The motion to refer under this rule after the previous question is 
ordered is not debatable (V, 5582), except as provided in clause 4 of 
rule XVI; but may be amended, as by adding instructions, unless such 
amendment be precluded by moving the previous question (V, 5582-5584; 
VIII, 2695). Unless the previous question is ordered, an amendment 
(including one in the nature of a substitute) is in order on a motion to 
commit with instructions (VIII, 2698, 2759), but the amendment should be 
germane (V, 6888; VIII, 2711).

  It is not in order to do indirectly by a motion to commit with 
instructions what may not be done directly by way of amendment such as 
to propose an amendment that is not germane (V, 5529-5541, 5834, 5889; 
VIII, 2707, 2708); to propose to strike out or amend what has already 
been inserted by way of amendment (V, 5531; VIII, 2712, 2714, 2715, 
2723); to propose an amendment in violation of clauses 2, 5, or 6 of 
rule XXI (V, 5533-5540); or to grant a committee leave to report at any 
time (V, 5543). Where a special rule providing for the consideration of 
a bill prohibited the offering of amendments to a certain title of the 
bill during its consideration (in both the House and the Committee of 
the Whole), it was held not in order to offer a motion to recommit with 
instructions to incorporate an amendment in the restricted title (Jan. 
11, 1934, pp. 479-83).

  The motion to recommit may not be accompanied by preamble or otherwise 
include argument, explanation, or other matter in the nature of debate 
(V, 5589; VIII, 2749). Thus, a motion to recommit a bill to a standing 
committee with recommendations for producing legislation that the 
President could sign was held inadmissible in both form and content 
(Feb. 27, 1992, p. ----). The motion may not be laid on the table after 
the previous question has been ordered (V, 5412-5414). Only one motion 
to commit is in order (V, 5577, 5582, 5585; VIII, 2763), but where a 
bill is recommitted under this motion the previous question being 
pending but not ordered on final passage and, having been reported 
again, is again amended and subjected to the previous question, another 
motion to commit is in order after the engrossment and third reading (V, 
5591). And where one motion to recommit was ruled out of order, the 
Speaker entertained a proper motion to recommit (VIII, 2763).


[[Page 609]]
state that the previous question be considered as ordered after debate, 
the previous question is considered as ordered from the beginning of the 
debate, precluding the consideration of any intervening motion (Mar. 12, 
1980, pp. 5387-93).
  When a special order declares that at a certain time the previous 
question shall be considered as ordered on a bill to the final passage, 
it has usually, but not always, been held that a motion to commit is 
precluded (IV, 3207-3209). Under clause 4(b) of rule XI the Committee on 
Rules is prohibited from reporting such special order that precludes the 
motion to recommit in clause 4 of rule XVI (Sec. 729(a); VIII, 2260, 
2262-2264). Clause 4(b) was amended in the 104th Congress to further 
prohibit the Committee on Rules from denying the Minority Leader or his 
designee the right to include proper amendatory instructions in a motion 
to recommit (sec. 210, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). Where a 
special order providing for consideration of a matter in the House 
provides that the previous question shall be considered as ordered 
thereon without intervening motion, and does not simply 



Sec. 809. Relation of the previous question to other 
motions.

  The  motion to lay on the table may not be applied to the previous 
question (V, 5410, 5411); nor may it be applied to the main question 
after the previous question has been ordered (V, 5415-5422; VIII, 2655), 
or after the yeas and nays have been ordered on the demand for the 
previous question (V, 5408, 5409).



  The motion to postpone may not be applied to the main question after 
the previous question has been ordered (V, 5319-5321; VIII, 2617). The 
previous question may be applied both to the main question and a pending 
motion to refer (V, 5342; VI, 373).




Sec. 810. Relation of previous question to failure of a 
quorum.

  2.  A call of the House shall not be in order after the previous 
question is ordered, unless it shall appear upon an actual count by the 
Speaker that a quorum is not present.



  This clause of the rule was adopted in 1860 (V, 5447).




Sec. 811. Questions of order pending the motion for the 
previous question.

  3.  All incidental questions of order arising after a 
motion is made for the previous question, and pending such motion, shall 
be decided, whether on appeal or otherwise, without debate.


  This clause was adopted in 1837 to prevent delay by debate on points 
of order after the demand for the previous question (V, 5448). Under the 
present practice, since debate on points or order is entirely within the 
control of the Chair, he may recognize and respond to a parliamentary 
inquiry although the previous question may have been demanded (Speaker 
pro tempore Snell, Mar. 27, 1926, p. 6469).







[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 610-615]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-102]

[[Page 610]]

 
  A question of privilege relating to the integrity of action of the 
House itself has been distinguished from ordinary questions of order and 
has been thrown open to debate after the ordering of the previous 
question (III, 2532). 


                               Rule XVIII.


                            RECONSIDERATION.




Sec. 812. The motion to reconsider.

  1.  When a motion has 
been made and carried or lost, it shall be in order for any member of 
the majority, on the same or succeeding day, to move for the 
reconsideration thereof, and such motion shall take precedence of all 
other questions except the consideration of a conference report or a 
motion to adjourn, and shall not be withdrawn after the said succeeding 
day without the consent of the House, and thereafter any Member may call 
it up for consideration: Provided, That such motion, if made during the 
last six days of a session, shall be disposed of when made.


  The motion to reconsider used in the Continental Congress and in the 
House of Representatives from its first organization, in 1789, was first 
made the subject of a rule in 1802; and at various times this rule has 
been perfected by amendments (V, 5605).

  The motion is not used in Committee of the Whole (IV, 4716-4718; VIII, 
2324, 2325), but is in order in the House as in Committee of the Whole 
(VIII, 2793). It is not in order in the House during the absence of a 
quorum when the vote proposed to be reconsidered requires a quorum (V, 
5606). But on votes incident to a call of the House the motion to 
reconsider may be entertained and also laid on the table, although a 
quorum may not be present (V, 5607, 5608).


[[Page 611]]
(V, 5619), or who was paired in favor of the majority contention and 
did not vote, may not make the motion (V, 5614; VIII, 2774). It has 
generally been held in committees that a Member who was not present at a 
vote but cast his vote by proxy does not qualify to make the motion to 
reconsider thereon. Any Member may object to the Chair's statement that 
by unanimous consent the motion to reconsider a vote is laid on the 
table, and the objecting Member need not have voted on the prevailing 
side, but if objection is made, the Chair's statement is ineffective and 
only a Member who voted on the prevailing side may offer the motion to 
reconsider the vote (Speaker pro tempore Wright, Aug. 15, 1986, p. 
22139).


Sec. 813. Maker of the motion to reconsider.

  The  mover of a 
proposition is entitled to prior recognition to move to reconsider (II, 
1454). A Member may make the motion at any time without thereby 
abandoning a prior motion made by himself and pending (V, 5610). A 
Delegate or Resident Commissioner may not make the motion in the House 
(rule XII; II, 1292; VI, 240). The provision of the rule that the motion 
may be made ``by any member of the majority'' is construed, in case of a 
tie vote, to mean any member of the prevailing side (V, 5615, 5616), and 
the same construction applies in case of a two-thirds vote (II, 1656; V, 
5617, 5618; VIII, 2778-2780). Where the yeas and nays have not been 
ordered recorded in the Journal, any Member, irrespective of whether he 
voted with the majority or not, may make the motion to reconsider (V, 
5611-5613, 5689; VIII, 2775, 2785; Sept. 23, 1992, p. ----); but a 
Member who was absent 



[[Page 612]]
made on the same day on which the action is taken to which it is 
proposed to be applied, or on the next day thereafter on which the 
committee convenes with a quorum present at a properly scheduled meeting 
at which business of that class is in order (VIII, 2213).


Sec. 814. Precedence of the motion to 
reconsider.

  The  precedence given the motion by the rule permits it to be 
made even after the previous question has been demanded (V, 5656) or 
while it is operating (V, 5657-5662; VIII, 2784). The motion to 
reconsider the vote on the engrossment of a bill may be admitted after 
the previous question has been moved on a motion to postpone (V, 5663), 
and a motion to reconsider the vote on the third reading may be made and 
acted on after a motion for the previous question on the passage has 
been made (V, 5656). It also takes precedence of the motion to go into 
Committee of the Whole to consider an appropriation bill (VIII, 2785), 
or even of a demand that the House return to committee after the 
appearance of a quorum (IV, 3087). But in a case wherein the House had 
passed a bill and disposed of a motion to reconsider the vote on its 
passage, it was held to be too late to reconsider the vote sustaining 
the decision of the Chair which brought the bill before the House (V, 
5652), and that a motion to vacate those proceedings was not in order 
(Speaker O'Neill, Dec. 17, 1985, pp. 37472-74). After a conference has 
been agreed to and the managers for the House appointed, it is too late 
to move to reconsider the vote whereby the House acted on the amendments 
in disagreement (V, 5664). While the motion has high privilege for 
entry, it may not be considered while another question is before the 
House (V, 5673-5676; July 2, 1980, p. 18354), or while the House is 
dividing (VIII, 2791). A motion to reconsider a secondary motion to 
postpone which has previously been offered and rejected is highly 
privileged, even after the manager of the main proposition has yielded 
time to another Member and before that Member has begun his remarks (May 
29, 1980, pp. 12663-64). When it relates to a bill belonging to a 
particular class of business, consideration of the motion is in order 
only when that class of business is in order (V, 5677-5681; VIII, 2786). 
It may then be called up at any time; but is not the regular order until 
called up (V, 5682; VIII, 2785, 2786). When once entered it may remain 
pending indefinitely, even until a succeeding session of the same 
Congress (V, 5684). The motion to reconsider an action taken on a bill 
on Tuesday may be entered but may not be considered on Calendar 
Wednesday (VII, 905); is subject to the question of consideration (VIII, 
2437), and may be laid on the table (VIII, 2652, 2659). The motion to 
reconsider is in order in the procedure of standing committees, and may 
be 




Sec. 815. Application of the motion to reconsider.

  A  motion 
to reconsider may be entertained, although the bill or resolution to 
which it applies may have gone to the other House or the President (V, 
5666-5668). The Senate may not reconsider the confirmation of a 
nomination after a commission has been issued by the President to a 
nominee and the latter has taken the oath and entered upon the duties of 
his office (U.S. v. Smith, 286 U.S., 6). The fact that the House had 
informed the Senate that it had agreed to a Senate amendment to a House 
bill was held not to prevent a motion to reconsider the vote on agreeing 
(V, 5672). When a motion is made to reconsider a vote on a bill that has 
gone to the Senate, a motion to recall the bill is privileged (V, 5669-
5671). The motion to reconsider may be applied once only to a vote 
ordering the previous question (V, 5655; VIII, 2790), and may not be 
applied to a vote ordering the previous question that has been partially 
executed (V, 5653, 5654); but a vote agreeing to an order of the House 
has been reconsidered, although the execution of the order had begun 
(III, 2028; V, 5665). The vote ordering the previous question on a 
special order reported from the Committee on Rules may be reconsidered 
and is not dilatory under clause 4(b) of rule XI (Sept. 25, 1990, p. --
--).



[[Page 613]]
to move to reconsider the vote on a motion disposing of one of the 
amendments; but laying on the table a motion to reconsider the vote 
whereby the House has amended a Senate amendment does not preclude the 
House from acting on a subsequent Senate amendment to that House 
amendment, or considering any other proper motion to dispose of an 
amendment that might remain in disagreement after further Senate action 
(Oct. 5, 1983, p. 27323). For a discussion of the application of the 
motion to reconsider in committees, see Sec. 416, supra.
  The motion may not be applied to negative votes on motions to adjourn 
(V, 5620-5622), or for a recess (V, 5625), or to go into Committee of 
the Whole (V, 5641). The motion to reconsider may be applied however to 
an affirmative vote on the motion to resolve into the Committee of the 
Whole while the Speaker is still in the chair (V, 5368; Apr. 20, 1978, 
pp. 10990-91). A motion to reconsider the vote by which the House had 
decided a question of parliamentary procedure was held not to be in 
order (VIII, 2776). Motions to reconsider negative votes on motions to 
fix the day to which the House shall adjourn have been the subject of 
conflicting rulings (V, 5623, 5624). It is in order to reconsider a vote 
postponing a bill to a day certain (V, 5643; May 29, 1980, p. 12663). It 
is not in order to reconsider a negative decision of the question of 
consideration (V, 5626, 5627), although it is in order to reconsider an 
affirmative vote on the question of consideration (Oct. 4, 1994, p. ----
). It is not in order to reconsider a negative vote on suspension of the 
rules (V, 5645, 5646; VIII, 2781) or a vote on reconsideration of a bill 
returned with the objections of the President (VIII, 2778). A vote 
whereby a second is ordered may be reconsidered (V, 5642). The motion to 
reconsider a vote on a proposition having been once agreed to, and the 
said vote having again been taken, a second motion to reconsider may not 
be made unless the nature of the proposition has been changed by 
amendment (V, 5685-5688; VIII, 2788; Sept. 20, 1979, pp. 25512-13). 
After disposition of a conference report and amendments reported from 
conference in disagreement, it is in order on the same day 


[[Page 614]]



Sec. 816. Effect of the motion to reconsider.

  A  bill is not 
considered passed or an amendment agreed to if a motion to reconsider is 
pending, the effect of the motion being to suspend the original 
proposition (V, 5704); and the Speaker declines to sign an enrolled bill 
until a pending motion to reconsider has been disposed of (V, 5705). But 
when the Congress expires leaving unacted on a motion to reconsider the 
vote whereby a simple resolution of the House has been agreed to, it is 
probable that the resolution would be operative; and where a bill has 
been enrolled, signed by the Speaker, and approved by the President, it 
is undoubtedly a law, although a motion to reconsider may not have been 
disposed of (V, 5704, footnote). A Member-elect may not take the oath 
until a motion to reconsider the vote determining his title is disposed 
of (I, 335); but when, in such a case, the motion is disposed of, the 
right to be sworn is complete (I, 622). When the motion to reconsider is 
decided in the affirmative the question immediately recurs on the 
question reconsidered (V, 5703). When a vote whereby an amendment has 
been agreed to is reconsidered the amendment becomes simply a pending 
amendment (V, 5704). When the vote ordering the previous question is 
reconsidered it is in order to withdraw the motion for the previous 
question, the ``decision'' having been nullified (V, 5357). When the 
previous question has been ordered on a series of motions and its force 
has not been exhausted the reconsideration of the vote on one of the 
motions does not throw it open to debate (V, 5493); under the earlier 
practice, when a vote taken under the operation of the previous question 
was reconsidered, the main question stood divested of the previous 
question, and was debatable and amendable without reconsideration 
separately of the motion for the previous question (V, 5491-5492, 5700), 
but under the modern practice, where the House adopts a motion to 
reconsider a vote on a question on which the previous question has been 
ordered, the question to be reconsidered is neither debatable nor 
amendable (unless the vote on the previous question is separately 
reconsidered) (July 2, 1980, p. 18355). It is in order to move to 
reconsider the ordering of the yeas and nays on a question before the 
question has been finally decided (V, 5689-5691, 6029; VIII, 2790); but 
where the House had voted to reconsider the vote whereby it had rejected 
a bill but had not separately reconsidered the ordering of a recorded 
vote, the Speaker put the question de novo and entertained a new demand 
for a recorded vote (Sept. 20, 1979, pp. 25512-13).




Sec. 817. The vote on the motion to reconsider.

  The  motion 
to reconsider is agreed to by majority vote, even when the vote 
reconsidered requires two-thirds for affirmative action (II, 1656; V, 
5617, 5618; VIII, 2795), or when only one-fifth is required for 
affirmative action, as in votes ordering the yeas and nays (V, 5689-
5692, 6029; VIII, 2790). But one motion to reconsider the yeas and nays 
having been acted on, another motion to reconsider is not in order (V, 
6037).




Sec. 818. Relation of the motion to reconsider to the motion 
to lay on the table.

  A  vote on the motion to lay on the table may be 
reconsidered whether the decision be in the affirmative (V, 5628, 5695, 
6288; VIII, 2785) or in the negative (V, 5629). It is in order to 
reconsider the vote laying an appeal on the table (V, 5630), although 
during proceedings under a call of the House this motion was once ruled 
out (V, 5631). The motion to reconsider may not be applied to the vote 
whereby the House has laid another motion to reconsider on the table (V, 
5632-5640; June 20, 1967, pp. 16497-98); and a motion to reconsider may 
be laid on the table only before the Chair has put the question on the 
motion to a vote (Sept. 20, 1979, p. 25512).





Sec. 819. Debate on the motion to reconsider.

  A  motion to 
reconsider is debatable only if the motion proposed to be reconsidered 
was debatable (V, 5694-5699; VIII, 2437, 2792; Sept. 13, 1965, p. 
23608); so the motion to reconsider a vote ordering the previous 
question is not debatable (Sept. 25, 1990, p. ----) and the application 
of the previous question makes a motion to reconsider undebatable (V, 
5701; VIII, 2792; Sept. 20, 1979, p. 25512; July 2, 1980, p. 18355). 
Where a resolution providing for the order of business was agreed to 
without adoption of the previous question, the Speaker advised that a 
motion to reconsider would be debatable and that the Member moving the 
reconsideration would be recognized to control the one hour of debate 
(Speaker McCormack, Sept. 13, 1965, p. 23608).





Sec. 820. Application of motion to reconsider to bills in 
committees.

  2.  No bill, petition, memorial, or resolution referred to a 
committee, or reported therefrom for printing and recommitment, shall be 
brought back into the House on a motion to reconsider; * * *



[[Page 615]]

<>   2. * * * and all bills, petitions, memorials, or 
resolutions reported from a committee shall be accompanied by reports in 
writing, which shall be printed.

  This clause was first adopted in 1860, and amended in 1872, to prevent 
a practice of using the privilege of the motion to reconsider to secure 
consideration of bills otherwise not in order (V, 5647). There is a 
question as to whether or not the rule applies to a case wherein the 
House, after considering a bill, recommits it (V, 5648-5650). After a 
committee has reported a bill it is too late to reconsider the vote by 
which it was referred (V, 5651).

  This clause was adopted in 1880 (V, 5647).





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 615-619]
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[DOCID:hrmanual-103]

 
  The House insists on observance of this rule (IV, 4655) and does not 
receive verbal reports as to bills (IV, 4654). But the sufficiency of a 
report is passed on by the House and not by the Speaker (II, 1339; IV, 
4653). A report is not necessarily signed by all those concurring (II, 
1274) or even by any of those concurring, but minority, supplemental and 
additional views are signed by those submitting them (IV, 4671; VIII, 
2229; see clause 2(l)(5) of rule XI). Under this rule, the printing 
requirement is not a condition precedent to consideration of the matter 
reported (VIII, 2307-2309), but see clause 7 of rule XXI, which states 
that no general appropriation bill shall be considered until printed 
hearings and report thereon have been available for three calendar days, 
and clause 2(l) of rule XI, pertaining to the consideration of matters 
reported by committees, and clause 2 of rule XXVIII, pertaining to the 
requirement that conference reports and amendments reported in 
disagreement from conference be available before consideration.


                                Rule XIX.


                             OF AMENDMENTS.



[[Page 616]]



Sec. 822. Amendments to text and to title.

  When  a motion or 
proposition is under consideration a motion to amend and a motion to 
amend that amendment shall be in order, and it shall also be in order to 
offer a further amendment by way of substitute, to which one amendment 
may be offered, but which shall not be voted on until the original 
matter is perfected, but either may be withdrawn before amendment or 
decision is had thereon. Amendments to the title of a bill or resolution 
shall not be in order until after its passage, and shall be decided 
without debate.


  This rule was adopted in 1880, with an amendment adding the portion in 
relation to the title in 1893. The rule of 1880, however, merely stated 
in form of rule what had been the practice of the House for many years 
(V, 5753).


[[Page 617]]
changes in the bill rather than in the amendment is not a proper 
perfecting amendment, but may if germane be offered as a substitute for 
the amendment (Apr. 26, 1984, p. 10213). Where, pursuant to a special 
rule, a committee amendment in the nature of a substitute, printed in 
the bill, is being read as original text for purpose of amendment, there 
may be pending to that text the four stages of amendment permitted by 
this rule (Apr. 23, 1969, p. 10066). An amendment in the nature of a 
substitute may be proposed before amendments to the pending portion of 
original text have been acted on, but may not be voted on until such 
amendments have been disposed of (V, 5753, 5787). When a bill is 
considered by sections or paragraphs an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute is properly offered after the reading for amendment is 
concluded (V, 5788). But when it is proposed to offer a single 
substitute for several paragraphs of a bill that is being considered by 
paragraphs, the substitute may be moved to the first paragraph, with 
notice that, if agreed to, motions will be made to strike out the 
remaining paragraphs (V, 5795; VIII, 2898, 2900-2903; July 29, 1969, pp. 
21218-19). The substitute amendment, as well as the original 
proposition, may be perfected by amendments before the vote on it is 
taken (V, 5786). Where there is pending an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute, it is in order to offer a perfecting amendment to the 
pending portion of original text (VIII, 2861; Apr. 27, 1976, p. 11411; 
see also Procedure, ch. 27, sec. 13.8). An amendment in the nature of a 
substitute having been agreed to, the vote is then taken on the original 
proposition as amended (II, 983; V, 5799, 5800), and no further 
amendment is in order (Speaker O'Neill, Mar. 26, 1985, pp. 6274-75). The 
substitute provided for in this rule has been construed as a substitute 
for the amendment and not as a substitute for the original text (VIII, 
2883). If a perfecting amendment to an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute, striking out all after the short title and inserting a new 
text, is agreed to, further amendments to the text so perfected are not 
in order, but amendments are in order to add new language at the end of 
the amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended (May 16, 1979, p. 
11420). An amendment offered as a substitute and rejected may again be 
offered as an original amendment without presenting an equivalent 
question, since in the first case the question is the relationship 
between the substitute and the amendment to which offered and in the 
second case the question is the relationship between the original 
amendment and the text of the bill (V, 5797; VIII, 2843), and an 
amendment considered with others en bloc and rejected may be offered 
separately at a subsequent time (Deschler's Precedents, vol. 9, ch. 27, 
sec. 35.15; Nov. 4, 1991, p. ----). Thus, while an amendment that is 
amended by a substitute and then adopted as amended may not be reoffered 
in its original form if it would directly change the amended portion of 
the bill, where an amendment inserting new language in a bill is amended 
by a substitute inserting language in a different part of the bill and 
then adopted as amended, the original amendment may again be offered to 
the bill notwithstanding its displacement by the substitute, 

[[Page 618]]
as the vote on the amendment as amended by the substitute is not 
equivalent to a direct vote on the original amendment (June 25, 1987, p. 
17416). Under a ``modified closed'' rule permitting only amendments 
printed in the report accompanying the rule, the Chair will permit an 
amendment to be offered in the form actually submitted for printing 
rather than requiring that it be offered in the erroneous form printed 
(Mar. 10, 1994, p. ----).


Sec. 823. Conditions of the motion to amend.

  It  is not in 
order to offer more than one motion to amend of the same nature at a 
time (V, 5755; VIII, 2831), and two independent amendments may be voted 
on at once only by unanimous consent of the House (V, 5779). Amendments 
en bloc, once pending, are open to perfecting amendment at any point 
(June 12, 1991, p. ----). An amendment must contain instructions to the 
Clerk as to the portion of the bill it seeks to amend and is subject to 
a point of order if not in proper form (Oct. 3, 1985, pp. 25970-71). A 
Member may not amend or modify his own amendment except by unanimous 
consent (Oct. 1, 1985, p. 25453); and where the Chair recognizes the 
proponent of an amendment to propound such a unanimous consent request 
before commencing debate, the Chair does not charge time consumed under 
a reservation of objection against the proponent's time for debate on 
the amendment (Feb. 3, 1993, p. ----; May 27, 1993, p. ----). Discrete 
propositions to strike out and insert provisions on diverse pages and 
lines of a bill and to insert a new section on a separate subject may 
constitute separate amendments which may be offered en bloc only by 
unanimous consent, even when the bill has been considered as read and 
open to amendment at any point (Sept. 16, 1981, Deschler's Precedents, 
vol. 9, ch. 27, sec. 11.26). But the four motions specified by the rule 
may be pending at one and the same time (V, 5793; VIII, 2883, 2887). 
Once a perfecting amendment to an amendment is disposed of, the original 
amendment, as amended or not, remains open to further perfecting 
amendment (June 20, 1991, p. ----), and all such amendments are disposed 
of prior to voting on substitutes for the original amendment and 
amendments thereto (July 26, 1984, p. 21253). An amendment in the third 
degree is not specified by the rule and is not permissible (V, 5754; 
VIII, 2580, 2888, 2891), even when the third degree is in the nature of 
substitute for an amendment to a substitute (V, 5791; VIII, 2889). 
However, a substitute amendment may be amended by striking out all after 
its first word and inserting a new text (V, 5793, 5794), as this, while 
in effect a substitute, is not technically so, for the substitute always 
proposes to strike out all after the enacting or resolving words in 
order to insert a new text (V, 5785, footnote) or to replace all the 
words of an amendment; and the Chair will not look behind the form of 
the amendment in determining whether it is a perfecting amendment or a 
substitute (June 13, 1994, p. ----). To qualify as a substitute an 
amendment must treat in the same manner the same subject carried by the 
amendment for which offered (VIII, 2879), and for an amendment inserting 
new text in a bill, a proposition not only inserting similar language 
but also striking out original text of the bill is not in order as a 
substitute (VIII, 2880; Sept. 8, 1976, pp. 29237-38). To an amendment 
adding a new section, an amendment making perfecting 




Sec. 823a. Relation of point of order to motion to 
amend.

  A  point of order against an amendment is timely if made or 
reserved prior to formal recognition of the proponent to commence debate 
thereon (July 16, 1991, p. ----), but thereafter comes too late (V, 
6894, 6898-6899). To preclude a point of order, debate should be on the 
merits of the proposition (V, 6901). When enough of an amendment has 
been read to show that it is out of order, a point of order may be 
raised without waiting for the reading to be completed (V, 6886-6887; 
VIII, 2912, 3437), though the Chair may decline to rule until the entire 
proposition has been read (Dec. 14, 1973, pp. 41716-18). A timely 
reservation of a point of order by one Member inures to the benefit of 
any other Member who desires to press a point of order (V, 6906; July 
18, 1990, p. ----).




Sec. 824. Withdrawal of the motion to amend.

  While  the rule 
provides that either an ordinary or substitute amendment may be 
withdrawn in the House (V, 5753) or ``in the House as in Committee of 
the Whole'' (IV, 4935; June 26, 1973, p. 21315), it may not be withdrawn 
or modified in Committee of the Whole except by unanimous consent (V, 
5221; VIII, 2564, 2859).



[[Page 619]]



Sec. 825. Precedence of the motion to amend.

  Pursuant  to 
clause 4 of rule XVI, the motion for the previous question takes 
precedence of a motion to amend (Nov. 8, 1971, p. 39944); and if the 
previous question is not ordered, the motion to refer also has 
precedence of the motion to amend (V, 5555; VI, 373). Amendments 
reported by a committee are acted on before those offered from the floor 
(V, 5773; VIII, 2862, 2863), but a floor amendment to the text of a 
pending section is considered before a committee amendment adding a new 
section at the end of the pending section (Oct. 4, 1972, pp. 33779-82), 
and there is a question as to the extent to which the chairman of the 
committee reporting a bill should be recognized to offer amendments to 
perfect it in preference to other Members (II, 1450). Amendments may not 
be offered by proxy (VIII, 2830). The motion to strike out the enacting 
clause has precedence of the motion to amend, and may be offered while 
an amendment is pending (V, 5328-5331; VIII, 2622-2624); but the motion 
to amend takes precedence over a motion that the Committee of the Whole 
rise and report the bill with the recommendation that it pass (July 27, 
1937, p. 7699).




Sec. 826. Relation of the motion to amend to other 
motions.

  With  some exceptions an amendment may attach itself to secondary 
and privileged motions (V, 5754). Thus, the motions to postpone, refer, 
amend, for a recess, and to fix the day to which the House shall adjourn 
may be amended (V, 5754; VIII, 2824). But the motions for the previous 
question, to lay on the table, to adjourn (V, 5754) and to go into 
Committee of the Whole to consider a privileged bill may not be amended 
(IV, 3078, 3079; VI, 723-725).






[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 619-623]
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[DOCID:hrmanual-104]

 
  An amendment to the title of a bill is not in order in Committee of 
the Whole (Jan. 29, 1986, p. 682).


                                Rule XX.


                      OF AMENDMENTS OF THE SENATE.




Sec. 827. Consideration of Senate amendments in Committee 
of the Whole.

  1.  Any amendment of the Senate to any House bill shall be 
subject to the point of order that it shall first be considered in the 
Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, if, originating 
in the House, it would be subject to that point: Provided, however, That 
a motion to disagree with the amendments of the Senate to a House bill 
or resolution and request or agree to a conference with the Senate, or a 
motion to insist on the House amendments to a Senate bill or resolution 
and request or agree to a conference with the Senate, shall always be in 
order if the Speaker, in his discretion, recognizes for that purpose and 
if the motion is made by direction of the committee having jurisdiction 
of the subject matter of the bill or resolution.



[[Page 620]]
5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144), this clause included language relating to 
separate votes on nongermane Senate amendments that was, in the 93d 
Congress, modified and transferred to clause 5 of rule XXVIII (H. Res. 
998, Apr. 9, 1974, pp. 10195-99).
  The first part of this rule was adopted in 1880 to prevent Senate 
amendments of the class described from escaping consideration in 
Committee of the Whole (IV, 4796). The first sentence of the proviso, 
added by the 89th Congress (H. Res. 8, Jan. 4, 1965, p. 21), provides a 
method whereby bills can be sent to conference by majority vote. As 
contained in section 126(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 
1970 (84 Stat. 1140) and adopted as part of the rules of the House in 
the 92d Congress (H. Res. 


[[Page 621]]
diction and they have not yet had the opportunity to consider the 
amendment (June 28, 1984, p. 19770). The Committee on Rules may 
recommend a special order of business providing that a Senate amendment 
pending at the Speaker's table and otherwise requiring consideration in 
Committee of the Whole under this clause be ``hereby'' considered as 
adopted, which special order if adopted would abrogate the requirement 
of this clause (Deschler's Precedents, vol. 6, ch. 21, sec. 16.11; Feb. 
4, 1993, p. ----).



Sec. 828a. Practice in considering Senate amendments in 
Committee of the Whole.

  While  a Senate amendment that is merely a 
modification of a House proposition, like the increase or decrease of 
the amount of an appropriation, and does not involve new and distinct 
expenditure, may not be required to be considered in Committee of the 
Whole (IV, 4797-4806; VIII, 2382-2385), where the question was raised 
against a Senate amendment which on its face apparently placed a charge 
upon the Treasury the Speaker held it devolved upon those opposing the 
point of order to cite proof to the contrary (VIII, 2387). When in the 
House an amendment is offered to provide an appropriation for another 
purpose than that of the Senate amendment, the House goes into Committee 
of the Whole to consider it (IV, 4795). When an amendment is referred, 
the entire bill goes to the Committee of the Whole (IV, 4808), but the 
committee considers only the Senate amendment (V, 6192). It usually 
considers all the amendments, although they may not all be within the 
rule requiring such consideration (V, 6195). In Committee of the Whole a 
Senate amendment, even though it be very long, is considered as an 
entirety and not by paragraphs or sections (V, 6194). When reported from 
the Committee of the Whole, Senate amendments are voted on en bloc and 
only those amendments are voted on severally on which a separate vote is 
demanded (VIII, 3191). It has been held that each amendment is subject 
to general debate and amendment under the five-minute rule (V, 6193, 
6196). The requirement of this clause that certain Senate amendments be 
considered in Committee of the Whole applies only before the stage of 
disagreement has been reached on the Senate amendment, and it is to too 
late to raise a point of order that Senate amendments should have been 
considered in Committee of the Whole after the House has disagreed 
thereto and the amendments reported from conference in disagreement 
(Oct. 20, 1966, p. 28240; Dec. 4, 1975, p. 38714). The motion to send a 
bill to conference under this clause is in order notwithstanding the 
fact that the stage of disagreement has not been reached (Aug. 1, 1972, 
p. 26153). On a bill that has been jointly referred and reported in the 
House, the motion must be authorized by all committees reporting thereon 
(Sept. 26, 1978, p. 31623), but a committee discharged from a sequential 
referral need not authorize a motion made by direction of the committee 
that reported the bill (Oct. 4, 1994, p. ----). Where such a motion has 
been rejected by the House, it may be repeated if the committee having 
jurisdiction over the subject matter again authorizes its chairman to 
make the motion (Oct. 3, 1972, pp. 33502-03). See also Procedure, ch. 
32, sec. 5. The motion to send to conference is in order only if the 
Speaker in his discretion recognized for that purpose, and the Speaker 
will not recognize for the motion where he has referred a non-germane 
Senate amendment in question to a House committee with juris





Sec. 828b. Stage of disagreement between Houses.

  When  the 
stage of disagreement has been reached on a bill with amendments of the 
other House, motions to dispose of said amendments are privileged in the 
House (IV, 3149, 3150; VI, 756; VIII, 3185, 3194). The stage of 
disagreement between the two Houses is reached after the House in 
possession of the papers has either disagreed to the amendment(s) of the 
other House or has insisted on its own amendment to a measure of the 
other House (Sept. 16, 1976, p. 30868), and not merely where the other 
House has returned a bill with an amendment (Dec. 7, 1977, pp. 38728-
29). Thus where the House concurred in a Senate amendment to a House 
bill with an amendment, insisted on the amendment and requested a 
conference, and the Senate then concurred in the House amendment with a 
further amendment, the matter was privileged in the House for further 
disposition since the House had communicated its insistence and request 
for a conference to the Senate (Speaker Albert, Sept. 16, 1976, p. 
30868).





Sec. 829. Conferees may not agree to certain Senate 
amendments.

  2.  No amendment of the Senate to a general appropriation bill 
which would be in violation of the provisions of clause 2 of rule XXI, 
if said amendment had originated in the House, nor any amendment of the 
Senate providing for an appropriation upon any bill other than a general 
appropriation bill, shall be agreed to by the managers on the part of 
the House unless specific authority to agree to such amendment shall be 
first given by the House by a separate vote on every such amendment.


  This clause of the rule was adopted on June 1, 1920 (pp. 8109, 8120).


[[Page 622]]
Senate amendment (Speaker Albert, Dec. 19, 1973, p. 42565), it does not 
permit a motion to recommit a conference report on a general 
appropriation bill to include instructions to add legislation to that 
contained in a Senate amendment (Nov. 13, 1973, p. 36847). It is 
customary after a conference on a general appropriation bill with 
numbered Senate amendments for the managers to report certain Senate 
amendments in technical disagreement, and after the partial conference 
report (consisting of agreement on those Senate amendments not in 
violation of clause 2 of rule XXI) is disposed of, the remaining 
amendments are taken up in order and disposed of directly in the House 
by separate motion. When Senate amendments in disagreement are 
considered in this fashion, they are not subject to a point of order 
under this clause (Dec. 4, 1975, p. 38714); and a motion to (recede and) 
concur in the Senate amendment with a further amendment is also in 
order, even if the proposed amendment is also legislation on an 
appropriation bill. The only test is whether the proposed amendment is 
germane to the Senate amendment reported in disagreement (IV, 3909; 
VIII, 3188, 3189; Speaker McCormack, Dec. 15, 1970, pp. 41504-05; Aug. 
1, 1979, pp. 22007-11; Speaker O'Neill, Dec. 12, 1979, pp. 35520-21; 
June 30, 1987, p. 18308).
  While the rule provides for a motion authorizing the managers on the 
part of the House to agree to amendments of the Senate in violation of 
clause 2 of rule XXI, such as a motion to recommit a conference report 
on a general appropriation bill with instructions to agree to a 
legislative 


[[Page 623]]

  In the event an appropriation bill with Senate amendments in violation 
of clause 2 of rule XXI is sent to conference by unanimous consent, such 
procedure does not thereby prevent a point of order being sustained 
against the conference report should the managers on the part of the 
House violate the provisions of clause 2 of rule XX (VII, 1574). But 
where a special rule in the House waives points of order against 
portions of an appropriation bill that are unauthorized by law, and the 
bill passes the House with those provisions included therein and goes to 
conference, the conferees may report back their agreement to those 
provisions even though they remain unauthorized, since the waiver in the 
House of points of order under clause 2 of rule XXI carries over to the 
consideration of the same provisions when the conference report is 
before the House (Dec. 20, 1969, pp. 40445-48, consideration of 
conference report; Dec. 9, 1969, p. 37948, adoption of special rule 
waiving points of order against the bill in the House). The rule is a 
restriction upon the managers on the part of the House only, and does 
not provide for a point of order against a Senate amendment when it 
comes up for action by the House (VII, 1572). Managers may be authorized 
to agree to an appropriation by a resolution reported from the Committee 
on Rules (VII, 1577). House managers may include in their report a 
modification of a Senate amendment that eliminates the appropriation in 
that amendment (June 8, 1972, pp. 20280-81); and the prohibition in this 
clause applies only to language in Senate amendments. Thus the conferees 
may without violating this clause agree to language in a Senate bill 
which was sent to conference (Speaker Albert, Jan. 25, 1972, pp. 1076, 
1077; June 30, 1976, pp. 21632-34) or agree to language in a House bill 
which was permitted to remain and which constitutes an appropriation on 
a legislative bill (Speaker Albert, May 1, 1975, p. 12752). 





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 623-660]
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[DOCID:hrmanual-105]

 
  A provision in a Senate amendment included in a conference report on 
an authorization bill considered after the relevant appropriation has 
been enacted into law, directing that funds appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization be obligated and expended on a project not specifically 
funded in the appropriation, is itself an appropriation and may not be 
agreed to by House conferees (Nov. 29, 1979, pp. 34113-15); and House 
conferees were held to have violated this clause when they had agreed to 
a provision in a Senate amendment not only authorizing appropriations to 
pay judgments against the U.S. for the award of attorney fees and other 
court costs, but also requiring that where such payments were not paid 
out of appropriated funds, payment be made in the same manner as 
judgments under 28 U.S.C. 2414 and 2517 (payable directly out of the 
Treasury pursuant to a direct appropriation previously provided by law 
in 31 U.S.C. 1304) (Oct. 1, 1980, pp. 28637-40).


                                Rule XXI.


                                ON BILLS.




Sec. 830. Reading, engrossment, and passage of 
bills.

  1. Bills and  joint resolutions on their passage shall be read the first time 
by title and the second time in full, when, if the previous question is 
ordered, the Speaker shall state the question to be: Shall the bill be 
engrossed and read a third time? and, if decided in the affirmative, it 
shall be read the third time by title, and the question shall then be 
put upon its passage.


  This rule was adopted in 1789, amended in 1794, 1880 (IV, 3391), and 
on Jan. 4, 1965 (H. Res. 8, 89th Cong.). This latest amendment 
eliminated the provision which permitted a Member to demand the reading 
in full of the engrossed copy of a House bill.


[[Page 624]]
up in that committee. A bill read in full in Committee of the Whole and 
reported therefrom is not read in full again when acted on by the House 
(IV, 3409, 3410, 4916). But when a bill is taken up in Committee of the 
Whole its reading in full may be demanded before general debate begins, 
although it may have just been read in the House (IV, 4738); and may be 
dispensed with by unanimous consent, or by the special order providing 
for consideration of the bill, and a motion to that effect is not in 
order (VIII, 2335, 2436). The Speaker may object to a request for 
unanimous consent that a bill may be acted on without being read (IV, 
3390; VII, 1054).


Sec. 831. First and second readings.

  Formerly a  bill was 
read for the first time by title at the time of its introduction, but 
since 1890 all bills have been introduced by filing them with the Clerk, 
thus rendering a reading by title impossible at that time (IV, 3391). 
But the titles of all bills introduced are printed in the Journal and 
Record, thus carrying out the real purposes of the rule. The second 
reading formerly occurred in the House before commitment; but as the 
processes of handling bills have been shortened, the second reading now 
occurs for bills considered in the House alone when they are taken up 
for action (IV, 3391), and, for bills considered in Committee of the 
Whole, when they are taken 




Sec. 832. The third reading after 
engrossment.

  The right to  demand the reading in full of the engrossed copy of a 
bill formerly guaranteed by the rule, existed only immediately after it 
had passed to be engrossed and before it had been read a third time by 
title (IV, 3400, 3403, 3404; VII, 1061); or before the yeas and nays had 
been ordered on passage (IV, 3402). The right to demand the reading in 
full caused the bill to be laid aside until engrossed even though the 
previous question had been ordered (IV, 3395-3399; VII, 1062). A 
privileged motion may not intervene before the third reading (IV, 3405), 
and the question on engrossment and third reading is not subject to a 
demand for division of the question (Aug. 3, 1989, p. 18544). A vote on 
the passage has been reconsidered in order to remedy the omission to 
read a bill a third time (IV, 3406). Senate bills are not engrossed in 
the House; but are ordered to a third reading. The demand for the 
reading of the engrossed copy of a Senate bill cannot be made in the 
House (VIII, 2426).





Sec. 833. Voting on bills.

  A bill in  the House (as 
distinguished from the Committee of the Whole) is amended pending the 
engrossment and third reading (V, 5781; VI, 1051, 1052). The question on 
engrossment and third reading being decided in the negative the bill is 
rejected (IV, 3420, 3421). A bill must be considered and voted on by 
itself (IV, 3408). Where the two Houses pass similar but distinct bills 
on the same subject it is necessary that one or the other House act 
again on the subject (IV, 3386). The requirement of a two-thirds vote 
for proposed constitutional amendments has been construed in the later 
practice to apply only to the vote on the final passage (V, 7029, 7030; 
VIII, 3504). A bill having been rejected by the House, a similar but not 
identical bill on the same subject was afterwards held to be in order 
(IV, 3384).



[[Page 625]]
cept to continue appropriations for public works and objects which are 
already in progress.


Sec. 834a. Unauthorized appropriations in reported 
general appropriation bills or amendments thereto.

  2. (a)  No appropriation 
shall be reported in any general appropriation bill, or shall be in 
order as an amendment thereto, for any expenditure not previously 
authorized by law, ex




Sec. 834b. Legislation in reported general appropriation 
bills; exceptions.

  (b)  No provision changing existing law shall be 
reported in any general appropriation bill except germane provisions 
which retrench expenditures by the reduction of amounts of money covered 
by the bill, which may include those recommended to the Committee on 
Appropriations by direction of any legislative committee having 
jurisdiction over the subject matter thereof, and except rescissions of 
appropriations contained in appropriations Acts.




Sec. 834c. Legislation or limitations in amendments to 
general appropriation bills.

  (c)  No amendment to a general appropriation 
bill shall be in order if changing existing law. Except as provided in 
paragraph (d), no amendment shall be in order during consideration of a 
general appropriation bill proposing a limitation not specifically 
contained or authorized in existing law for the period of the 
limitation.



[[Page 626]]
ized in existing law for the period of the limitation or proposing 
germane amendments which retrench expenditures by reduction of amounts 
of money covered by the bill may be considered; but after the vote on 
any such amendment, the privileged motion made in order under this 
paragraph may be renewed.


Sec. 834d. Motion to rise and report as preferential to 
limitation or retrenchment amendments.

  (d)  After a general appropriation 
bill has been read for amendment and amendments not precluded by 
paragraphs (a) or (c) of this clause have been considered, motions that 
the Committee of the Whole rise and report the bill to the House with 
such amendments as may have been adopted shall, if offered by the 
majority leader or a designee, have precedence over motions to further 
amend the bill. If any such motion is rejected, amendments proposing 
limitations not specifically contained or author




Sec. 834e. Designated emergencies in reported 
appropriation bills.

  (e)  No provision shall be reported in any 
appropriation bill or joint resolution containing an emergency 
designation for purposes of section 251(b)(2)(D) or section 252(e) of 
the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, or shall be in 
order as an amendment thereto, if the provision or amendment is not 
designated as an emergency, unless the provision or amendment rescinds 
budget authority or reduces direct spending, or reduces an amount for a 
designated emergency.




[[Page 627]]



Sec. 834f. Offsetting amendments en bloc to appropriation 
bills.

  (f)  During the reading of any appropriation bill for amendment in 
the Committee of the Whole, it shall be in order to consider en bloc 
amendments proposing only to transfer appropriations among objects in 
the bill without increasing the levels of budget authority or outlays in 
the bill. When considered en bloc pursuant to this paragraph, such 
amendments may amend portions of the bill not yet read for amendment 
(following the disposition of any points of order against such portions) 
and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the 
House or in the Committee of the Whole.


  The 25th Congress in 1837 was the first to adopt a rule prohibiting 
appropriations in a general appropriation bill or amendment thereto not 
previously authorized by law, in order to prevent delay of appropriation 
bills because of contention over propositions of legislation. In 1838 
that Congress added the exception to permit unauthorized appropriations 
for continuation of works in progress and for contingencies for carrying 
on departments of the Government. The rule remained in that form until 
the 44th Congress in 1876, when William S. Holman of Indiana persuaded 
the House to amend the rule to permit germane legislative retrenchments. 
In 1880, the 46th Congress dropped the exception which permitted 
unauthorized appropriations for contingencies of Government departments, 
and modified the ``Holman Rule'' to define retrenchments as the 
reduction of the number and salary of officers of the United States, the 
reduction of compensation of any person paid out of the Treasury of the 
United States, or the reduction of the amounts of money covered by the 
bill. That form of the retrenchment exception remained in place until 
the 49th Congress in 1885, when it was dropped until the 52d Congress in 
1891, and then re-inserted through the 53d Congress until 1894. It was 
again dropped in the 54th Congress from 1895 until re-inserted in the 
62d Congress in 1911 (IV, 3578; VII, 1125).

  The clause remained unamended until January 3, 1983, when the 98th 
Congress restructured it in the basic form of paragraphs (a)-(d).

  Paragraph (a) retained the prohibition against unauthorized 
appropriations in general appropriation bills and amendments thereto 
except in continuation of works in progress.

  Paragraph (b) narrowed the ``Holman Rule'' exception from the 
prohibition against legislation to cover only retrenchments reducing 
amounts of money included in the bill as reported, and permitted 
legislative committees with proper jurisdiction to recommend such 
retrenchments to the Appropriations Committee for discretionary 
inclusion in the reported bill. The last exception in paragraph (b), 
permitting the inclusion of legislation rescinding appropriations, was 
added in the 99th Congress by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 
Control Act of 1985 (sec. 228(a), P.L. 99-177); however, that exception 
does not extend to the rescission of contract authority provided by laws 
other than appropriation acts (Sept. 22, 1993, p. ----; Sept. 23, 1993, 
p. ----).


[[Page 628]]
ance with clause 2(c) or in accordance with clause 2(d) (June 18, 1991, 
p. ----).
  Paragraph (c) retained the prohibition against amendments changing 
existing law but permitted limitation amendments during the reading of 
the bill by paragraph only if specifically authorized by existing law 
for the period of the limitation. The exception for limitations is 
strictly construed to apply only where existing law requires or permits 
the inclusion of limiting language in an appropriation Act, and not 
merely where the limitation is alleged to be ``consistent with existing 
law'' (June 28, 1988, p. 16267). Although the Committee on 
Appropriations may include a limitation in its reported bill, if it is 
stricken with other legislative language on a point of order it may be 
reinserted during the reading only if in compli


[[Page 629]]

  Paragraph (d) provided a new procedure for consideration of 
retrenchment and other limitation amendments only when reading of a 
general appropriation bill has been completed and only if the Committee 
of the Whole does not adopt a motion to rise and report the bill back to 
the House (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1983, p. 34). In the 104th Congress 
paragraph (d) was amended to limit the availability of its preferential 
motion to rise and report to the Majority Leader or his designee (sec. 
215(a), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). Where the reading of a 
general appropriation bill for amendment has been completed (or 
dispensed with), including the last paragraph of the bill containing the 
citation to the short title (July 30, 1986, p. 18214), the Chair may 
first inquire whether any Member seeks to offer an amendment not 
prohibited by clauses 2(a) or (c) prior to recognizing Members to offer 
limitation or retrenchment amendments, since the motion to rise and 
report to the House pursuant to clause 2(d) of this rule only supersedes 
that category of amendments and does not take precedence of amendments 
otherwise in order (June 2, 1983, p. 14317; Sept. 22, 1983, p. 25406; 
Oct. 27, 1983, p. 29630), including pro forma amendments (Aug. 2, 1989, 
p. 18126). Pursuant to clause 2(d), a motion that the Committee rise and 
report the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been 
adopted is not debatable (Apr. 23, 1987, p. 9613) and takes precedence 
over a limitation (or retrenchment) amendment (July 30, 1985, p. 21534; 
July 23, 1986, p. 17431; Apr. 23, 1987, p. 9613), but only after 
completion of the reading and disposition of amendments not otherwise 
precluded (June 30, 1992, p. ----). Thus a motion that the Committee 
rise and report the bill to the House with the recommendation that it be 
recommitted, with instructions to report back to the House (forthwith or 
otherwise) with an amendment proposing a limitation, does not take 
precedence over the motion to rise and report the bill to the House with 
such amendments as may have been adopted (sustained on appeal, Sept. 19, 
1983, p. 24647). An amendment not only reducing an amount in a paragraph 
of an appropriation bill but also limiting expenditure of those funds on 
a particular project (i.e., a limitation not contained in existing law) 
was held not in order during the reading of that paragraph but only at 
the end of the bill under clause 2(d) (July 23, 1986, p. 17431; June 15, 
1988, p. 14719). Where language of limitation was stricken from a 
general appropriation bill on a point of order that it changed existing 
law, an amendment proposing to reinsert the limitation without its 
former legislative content was held not in order before completion of 
the reading for amendment (Sept. 23, 1993, p. ----). A motion that the 
Committee of the Whole rise and report to the House with the 
recommendation that the enacting clause be stricken out takes precedence 
over the motion to amend under clause 7 of rule XXIII and thus over the 
motion to rise and report under clause 2(d) (July 24, 1986, p. 17641). 

  Paragraphs (e) and (f) were added in the 104th Congress (sec. 215, H. 
Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).



Sec. 835. Points of order on general appropriation 
bills.

  As the rule  applies only to general appropriation bills, which are not 
enumerated or defined in the rules (VII, 1116) bills appropriating only 
for one purpose have been held not to be ``general'' within the meaning 
of this rule (VII, 1122). Neither a resolution providing an 
appropriation for a single government agency (Jan. 31, 1962, p. 1352), 
nor a joint resolution only containing continuing appropriations for 
diverse agencies to provide funds until regular appropriation bills are 
enacted (Sept. 21, 1967, p. 26370), nor a joint resolution providing an 
appropriation for a single government agency and permitting a transfer 
of a portion of those funds to another agency (Oct. 25, 1979, pp. 29627-
28), nor a joint resolution transferring funds already appropriated from 
one specific agency to another (Mar. 26, 1980, pp. 6716-17), nor a joint 
resolution transferring unobligated balances to the President to be 
available for specified purposes but containing no new budget authority 
(Mar. 3, 1988, p. 3239), are ``general appropriation bills'' within the 
purview of this clause. A point of order under this rule does not apply 
to a special order reported from the Committee on Rules ``self-
executing'' the adoption in the House of an amendment changing existing 
law (July 27, 1993, p. ----).


  As all bills making or authorizing appropriations require 
consideration in Committee of the Whole, it follows that the enforcement 
of the rule must ordinarily occur during consideration in Committee of 
the Whole, where the Chair, on the raising of a point of order, may rule 
out any portion of the bill in conflict with the rule (IV, 3811; Sept. 
8, 1965, pp. 23140, 23182). Portions of the bill thus stricken are not 
reported back to the House.


[[Page 630]]
containing legislation (Sept. 1, 1976, pp. 28883-84) or a limitation 
not considered in the Committee of the Whole (Speaker Foley, Aug. 1, 
1989, p. 17159, and Aug. 3, 1989, p. 18546, each time sustained by 
tabling of appeal); and such amendment is precluded whether the 
Committee of the Whole has risen and reported automatically pursuant to 
a special rule or, instead, by a motion at the end of the reading for 
amendment (June 22, 1995, p. ----).
  Prior to the adoption of clause 8 of rule XXI in the 104th Congress 
(see Sec. 848a, infra), it was necessary that some Member reserve points 
of order when a general appropriation bill was referred to the calendar 
of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, in order 
that provisions in violation of the rule could be stricken in the 
Committee (V, 6921-6925; VIII, 3450; Chairman Chindblom, Feb. 6, 1926, 
p. 3456). Where points of order had been reserved pending a unanimous 
consent request that the committee be permitted to file its report when 
the House would not be in session, it was not necessary that they be 
reserved again when the report ultimately was presented as privileged 
when the House was in session, as the initial reservation carried over 
to the subsequent filing (Mar. 1, 1983, p. 3241). In an instance where 
points of order were not reserved against an appropriation bill when it 
was reported to the House and referred to the Committee of the Whole, 
points of order in the Committee of the Whole against a proposition in 
violation of this clause were overruled on the ground that the Chairman 
of the Committee of the Whole lacked authority to pass upon the question 
(Apr. 8, 1943, pp. 3150-51, 3153). The enforcement of the rule also 
occurs in the House in that a motion to recommit a general appropriation 
bill may not propose an amendment 

  By unanimous consent the Committee of the Whole may vacate proceedings 
under specified points of order (June 7, 1991, p. ----).


[[Page 631]]
and an amendment to the paragraph has been offered (June 27, 1974, pp. 
21670-72).
  Points of order against unauthorized appropriations or legislation on 
general appropriation bills may be made as to the whole or only a 
portion of a paragraph (IV, 3652; V, 6881). The fact that a point is 
made against a portion of a paragraph does not prevent another point 
against the whole paragraph (V, 6882; July 31, 1985, p. 21895). If a 
portion of a proposed amendment be out of order, it is sufficient for 
the rejection of the whole amendment (V, 6878-6880); and if a point of 
order is sustained against any portion of a package of amendments 
considered en bloc, all the amendments are ruled out of order and must 
be reoffered separately, or those which are not subject to a point of 
order may be considered en bloc by unanimous consent (Sept. 16, 1981, 
pp. 20735-38; June 21, 1984, p. 17687). Where a point is made against 
the whole of a paragraph the whole must go out, but it is otherwise when 
the point is made only against a portion (V, 6884, 6885). General 
appropriation bills are read ``scientifically'' only by paragraph 
headings and appropriation amounts, and points of order against a 
paragraph must be made before an amendment is offered thereto or before 
the Clerk reads the next paragraph heading and amount (Deschler's 
Precedents, vol. 8, ch. 26, sec. 2.26). A point of order against a 
paragraph under this clause may be made only after that paragraph has 
been read by the Clerk, and not prior to its reading pending 
consideration of an amendment inserting language immediately prior 
thereto (June 6, 1985, pp. 14605, 14609). Where the reading of a 
paragraph of a general appropriation bill has been dispensed with by 
unanimous consent, the Chair inquires whether there are points of order 
against the paragraph before entertaining amendments or directing the 
Clerk to read further, but he does not make such an inquiry where the 
Clerk has actually read the paragraph (May 31, 1984, p. 14608). Where 
the bill is considered as having been read and open to amendment by 
unanimous consent, points of order against provisions in the bill must 
be made before amendments are offered, and cannot be reserved pending 
subsequent action on amendments (Dec. 1, 1982, p. 28175). Where a 
chapter is considered as read by unanimous consent and open to amendment 
at any point, no amendments are offered and the Clerk begins to read the 
next chapter, it is too late to make a point of order against a 
paragraph in the preceeding chapter (June 11, 1985, p. 15181). It is too 
late to rule out the entire paragraph after points of order against 
specific portions have been sustained 

  In the administration of the rule, it is the practice that those 
upholding an item of appropriation should have the burden of showing the 
law authorizing it (IV, 3597; VII, 1179, 1233, 1276). Thus the burden of 
proving the authorization for language carried in an appropriation bill, 
or that the language in the bill constitutes a valid limitation which 
does not change existing law, falls on the proponents and managers of 
the bill (May 28, 1968, p. 15357; Nov. 30, 1982, p. 28062). Where a 
provision is susceptible to more than one interpretation, that burden 
may be met by a showing that only the requirements of existing law, and 
not any new requirements, are recited in the language (Sept. 23, 1993, 
p. ----). The Chair may overrule a point of order that appropriations 
for a certain agency are unauthorized upon citation to an organic 
statute creating the agency, absent any showing that the organic law has 
been overtaken by a scheme of periodic reauthorization; the Chair may 
hear further argument and reverse his ruling, however, where existing 
law not previously called to the Chair's attention would require the 
ruling to be reversed (VIII, 3435; June 8, 1983, p. 14854, where a law 
amending the statute creating the Bureau of the Mint with the express 
purpose of requiring annual authorizations was subsequently called to 
the Chair's attention). Reported provisions in a general appropriation 
bill described in the accompanying report (pursuant to clause 3 of rule 
XXI) as directly or indirectly changing the application of existing law 
are presumably legislation, absent rebuttal by the committee (May 31, 
1984, p. 14591). The burden of proof to show that an appropriation 
contained in an amendment is authorized by law is on the proponent of 
the amendment (May 11, 1971, p. 14471; Oct. 29, 1991, p. ----) and the 
burden is on the proponent of an amendment to a general appropriation 
bill to prove that language offered under the guise of a limitation does 
not change existing law (July 17, 1975, p. 23239; June 16, 1976, pp. 
18666-67). If the amendment is susceptible to more than one 
interpretation, it is incumbent upon the proponent to show that it is 
not in violation of the rule (Procedure, ch. 25, sec. 6.3; July 28, 
1980, pp. 19924-25). The mere recitation in an amendment that a 
determination is to be made pursuant to existing laws and regulations, 
absent a citation to the law imposing such responsibility, is not 
sufficient proof by the proponent of an amendment to overcome a point of 
order that the amendment constitutes legislation (Sept. 16, 1980, pp. 
25606-07). The authorization must be enacted before the appropriation 
may be included in an appropriation bill; thus delaying the availability 
of an appropriation pending enactment of an authorization does not 
protect the item of appropriation against a point of order under this 
clause (Apr. 26, 1972, p. 14455).


[[Page 632]]
authorized purpose is in order (July 27, 1954, p. 12287; Oct. 1, 1975, 
p. 31058; June 8, 1977, pp. 17941-42; July 17, 1985, p. 19435), but an 
amendment adding further unauthorized items of appropriation or 
earmarking for another unauthorized purpose or adding legislation in the 
form of new duties or broadening the application of a legislative 
provision permitted to remain to other funds is not in order (Dec. 8, 
1971, p. 45487; Aug. 7, 1978, pp. 24710-12; July 30, 1985, p. 21532; 
July 17, 1986, p. 16918; July 23, 1986, p. 17446; June 26, 1987, p. 
17655; May 25, 1988, p. 12256; June 28, 1988, pp. 16203, 16213). But to 
a legislative provision permitted to remain conferring assistance on a 
certain class of recipients, an amendment adding another class is 
further legislation and is not merely perfecting in nature (June 22, 
1983, p. 16851). An amendment to a general appropriation bill is not 
subject to a point of order as adding legislation if containing, 
verbatim, a legislative provision already contained in the bill and 
permitted to remain (Aug. 27, 1980, p. 23519). Where by unanimous 
consent an amendment is offered en bloc to a paragraph of a general 
appropriation bill containing an unauthorized amount not yet read for 
amendment, the amendment increasing that unauthorized figure is subject 
to a point of order since at that point it is not being offered to a 
paragraph which has been read and permitted to remain (June 21, 1984, p. 
17687). To a legislative provision in a general appropriation bill, 
permitted to remain, exempting cases where the life of the mother would 
be endangered if a fetus were carried to term from a denial of funds for 
abortions, an amendment exempting instead cases where the health of the 
mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term was held 
not to constitute further legislation, since determinations on the 
endangerment of life necessarily subsume determinations on the 
endangerment of health, and the amendment did not therefore require any 
different or more onerous determinations (June 27, 1984, p. 19113). The 
inclusion of funds in a general appropriation bill in the form of a 
``not to exceed'' limitation does not obviate a point of order that the 
funds are not authorized by law (June 21, 1988, p. 15440).
  Where an unauthorized appropriation or legislation is permitted to 
remain in a general appropriation bill by failure to raise or by waiver 
of a point of order, an amendment merely changing that amount and not 
adding legislative language or earmarking separate funds for another un


[[Page 633]]
tion for an office created by executive order issued pursuant to the 
Reorganization Plan (June 21, 1974, pp. 20595-96). A resolution of the 
House has been held sufficient authorization for an appropriation for 
the salary of an employee of the House (IV, 3656-3658) even though the 
resolution may have been agreed to only by a preceding House (IV, 3660). 
Previous enactment of items of appropriation unauthorized by law does 
not justify similar appropriations in subsequent bills (VII, 1145, 1150, 
1151) unless if through appropriations previously made, a function of 
the government has been established which would bring it into the 
category of continuation of works in progress (VII, 1280), or unless 
legislation in a previous appropriation act has become permanent law 
(May 20, 1964, p. 11422). The omission to appropriate during a series of 
years for an object authorized by law does not repeal the law, and 
consequently an appropriation when proposed is not subject to the point 
of order (IV, 3595). The law authorizing each head of a department to 
employ such numbers of clerks, messengers, copyists, watchmen, laborers, 
and other employees as may be appropriated for by Congress from year to 
year is held to authorize appropriations for those positions not 
otherwise authorized by law (IV, 3669, 3675, 4739); but this law does 
not apply to offices not within departments or not at the seat of 
government (IV, 3670-3674). And a permanent law authorizing the 
President to appoint certain staff, together with legislative provisions 
authorizing additional employment contained in an appropriation bill 
enacted for that fiscal year, constituted sufficient authorization for a 
lump sum supplemental appropriation for the White House for the same 
fiscal year (Nov. 30, 1973, pp. 38854-55). By a general provision of law 
appropriations for investigations and the acquisition and diffusion of 
information by the Agricultural Department on subjects related to 
agriculture are generally in order in the agricultural appropriation 
bill (IV, 3649). It has once been held that this law would authorize 
also appropriations for the instrumentalities of such investigations 
(IV, 3615); but these would not include the organization of a bureau to 
conduct the work (IV, 3651). The law does not authorize general 
investigations by the department (IV, 3652), or cooperation with state 
investigations (IV, 3650; VII, 1301, 1302), or the investigation of 
foods in relation to commerce (IV, 3647, 3648; VII, 1298), or the 
compiling of tests at an exposition (IV, 3653). A paragraph of a general 
appropriation bill both establishing and funding a commission was ruled 
out as constituting legislation and carrying unauthorized appropriations 
(June 29, 1988, p. 16470). A paragraph appropriating funds for matching-
grants to States was held unauthorized where the authorizing law did not 
require State matching funds (June 28, 1993, p. ----). A paragraph 
funding a project from the Highway Trust Fund was held unauthorized 
where such funding was authorized only from the general fund (Sept. 23, 
1993, p. ----).


Sec. 836. Authorization of law for 
appropriations.

  The authorization  by existing law required in the rule to justify 
appropriations may be made also by a treaty if it has been ratified by 
both the contracting parties (IV, 3587); however, where existing law 
authorizes appropriations for the U.S. share of facilities to be 
recommended in an agreement with another country containing specified 
elements, an agreement in principle with that country predating the 
authorization law and lacking the required elements is insufficient 
authorization (June 28, 1993, p. ----). An executive order does not 
constitute sufficient authorization in law absent proof of its 
derivation from a statute enacted by Congress authorizing the order and 
expenditure of funds (June 15, 1973, p. 19855; June 25, 1974, p. 21036). 
Thus a Reorganization Plan submitted by the President pursuant to 5 
U.S.C. 906 has the status of statutory law when it becomes effective and 
is sufficient authorization to support an appropria



[[Page 634]]
a point of order, where more general existing law authorizes 
appropriations for all of the programs proposed to be modified by new 
legislation pending before Congress (June 8, 1978, p. 16778). But 
whether organic statutes or general grants of authority in law 
constitute sufficient authorization to support appropriations depends on 
whether the general laws applicable to the function or department in 
question require specific and/or annual authorizations. For example, 22 
U.S.C. 2680(a)(1) provides that no funds are available to the Department 
of State for obligation or expenditure unless appropriations therefor 
have been authorized by law enacted after February, 1972; thus 
appropriations for direct operations of that Department and for related 
functions violate clause 2 of rule XXI absent enactment of specific 
authorizations for the fiscal year in question (June 14, 1978, p. 
17616). Similar statutes pertain to the Department of Justice and 
related agencies and bureaus (June 14, 1978, p. 17622), the National 
Bureau of Standards (June 14, 1978, p. 17626), the Federal Trade 
Commission (June 14, 1978, p. 17630), and a variety of other agencies 
(June 14, 1978, pp. 17624-30). An authorization of ``such sums as may be 
necessary'' is sufficient to support any dollar amount, but has no 
tendency to relieve other conditions of the authorization law (June 28, 
1993, p. ----). Where existing law authorizes certain appropriations 
from a particular trust fund without fiscal year limitation, language 
that such an appropriation remain available until expended does not 
constitute legislation (July 15, 1993, p. ----).
  The failure of Congress to enact into law separate legislation 
specifically modifying eligibility requirements for grant programs under 
existing law does not necessarily render appropriations for those 
programs subject to 

  Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XLVIII, no funds may be appropriated to 
certain agencies carrying out intelligence and intelligence-related 
activities, unless such funds have been authorized by law for the fiscal 
year in question.



Sec. 837. Authorization for claims and 
salaries.

  Judgments of  courts certified to Congress in accordance with law or 
authorized by treaty (IV, 3634, 3635, 3644) and audited under authority 
of law have been held to be authorization for appropriations for the 
payment of claims (IV, 3634, 3635). But unadjudicated claims (IV, 3628), 
even though ascertained and transmitted by an executive officer (IV, 
3625-3640), and findings filed under the Bowman Act do not constitute 
authorization (IV, 3643).



[[Page 635]]
not in order to provide for an unauthorized office and salary in lieu 
of it (IV, 3680).
  An appropriation for an object not otherwise authorized does not 
constitute authorization to justify a continuance of the appropriation 
another year (IV, 3588, 3589; VII, 1128, 1145, 1149, 1191), and the mere 
appropriation for a salary does not create an office so as to justify 
appropriations in succeeding years (IV, 3590, 3672, 3697), it being a 
general rule that propositions to appropriate for salaries not 
established by law or to increase salaries fixed by law are out of order 
(IV, 3664-3667, 3676-3679). But an exception to these general principles 
is found in the established practice that in the absence of a general 
law fixing a salary the amount appropriated in the last appropriation 
bill has been held to be the legal salary (IV, 3687-3696). A law having 
established an office and fixed a salary, it is 



Sec. 838. Authorizations for public works.

  An  appropriation 
for a public work in excess of a fixed limit of cost (IV, 3583, 3584; 
VII, 1133), or for extending a service beyond the limits assigned by an 
executive officer exercising a lawful discretion (IV, 3598), or by 
actual law (IV, 3582, 3585), or for purposes prohibited by law are out 
of order (IV, 3580, 3581, 3702), as is an appropriation from the Highway 
Trust Fund where the project is specifically authorized from the general 
fund (Sept. 23, 1993, p. ----). But the mere appropriation of a sum ``to 
complete'' a work does not fix a limit of cost such as would exclude 
future appropriations (IV, 3761). A declaration of policy in an act 
followed by specific provisions conferring authority upon a governmental 
agency to perform certain functions is not construed to authorize 
appropriations for purposes germane to the policy but not specifically 
authorized by the act (VII, 1200). A point of order will not lie against 
an amendment proposing to increase a lump sum for public works projects 
where language in the bill limits use of the lump sum appropriation to 
``projects as authorized by law'' (Procedure, ch. 25, sec. 5.5), but 
where language in the bill limits use of the lump sum both to projects 
``authorized by laws'' and ``subject, where appropriate, to enactment of 
authorizing legislation,'' that paragraph constitutes an appropriation 
in part for some unauthorized projects and is not in order (June 6, 
1985, p. 14617).



[[Page 636]]
(IV, 3704). It has been held that a work has not been begun within the 
meaning of the rule when an appropriation has been made for a site for a 
public building (IV, 3785), or when a commission has been created to 
select a site or when a site has actually been selected for a work (IV, 
3762-3763), or when a survey has been made (IV, 3782-3784). By ``public 
works and objects already in progress'' are meant tangible matters like 
buildings, roads, etc., and not duties of officials in executive 
departments (IV, 3709-3713), or the continuance of a work indefinite as 
to completion and intangible in nature like the gauging of streams (IV, 
3714, 3715). A general system of roads on which some work has been done 
cannot be admitted as a work in progress (VII, 1333), nor can an 
extension of an existing road (Sept. 22, 1993, p. ----). Concerning 
reappropriation for continuation of public works in progress, see 
Sec. 847, infra.


Sec. 839. Continuation of a public work by 
appropriations.

  The rule  requiring appropriations to be authorized by existing 
law excepts those ``in continuance of appropriations for such public 
works and objects as are already in progress'' (IV, 3578); and the 
``works in progress'' exception has historically been applied only in 
cases of general revenue funding (Sept. 22, 1993, pp. ----; Sept. 23, 
1993, pp. ----). But an appropriation in violation of existing law or to 
extend a service beyond a fixed limit is not in order as the continuance 
of a public work (IV, 3585, 3702-3724; VII, 1332; Sept. 23, 1993, pp. --
--; June 8, 1983, Deschler's Precedents, vol. 8, ch. 26, sec. 8.9). 
Where existing law (40 U.S.C. 606) specifically prohibits the making of 
an appropriation to construct or alter any public building involving 
more than $500,000 unless approved by the House and Senate Public Works 
Committees, an appropriation for such purposes not authorized by both 
committees is out of order notwithstanding the ``works in progress'' 
exemption, since the law specifically precludes the appropriation from 
being made (June 8, 1983, p. 14855). An appropriation from the Highway 
Trust Fund for an ongoing project was held not in order under the 
``works in progress'' exception where the Internal Revenue Code 
``occupied the field'' with a comprehensive authorization scheme not 
embracing the specified project (Sept. 22, 1993, pp. ----; Sept. 23, 
1993, pp. ----). Interruption of a work does not necessarily remove it 
from the privileges of the rule (IV, 3705-3708); but the continuation of 
the work must not be so conditioned in relation to place as to become a 
new work 



[[Page 637]]



Sec. 840. Examples illustrating the continuation of a 
public work.

  Thus the  continuation of the following works has been admitted: A 
topographical survey (IV, 3796, 3797; VII, 1382), a geological map (IV, 
3795), marking of a boundary line (IV, 3717), marking graves of soldiers 
(IV, 3788), a list of claims (IV, 3717), and recoinage of coins in the 
Treasury (IV, 3807); but the following works have not been admitted: 
Investigation of materials, like coal (IV, 3721), scientific 
investigations (IV, 3719; VII, 1345), duties of a commission (IV, 3720; 
VII, 1344), extension of foreign markets for goods (IV, 3722), printing 
of a series of opinions indefinite in continuance (IV, 3718), free 
evening lectures in the District of Columbia (IV, 3789), certain ongoing 
projects from the Highway Trust Fund (Sept. 22, 1993, pp. ----; Sept. 
23, 1993, pp. ----), extension of an existing road (Sept. 22, 1993, p. 
----), continuation of an extra compensation for ordinary facility for 
carrying the mails (IV, 3808), although the continuation of certain 
special mail facilities has been admitted (IV, 3804-3806). But 
appropriations for rent and repairs of buildings or Government roads 
(IV, 3793, 3798) and bridges (IV, 3803) have been admitted as in 
continuation of a work (IV, 3777, 3778), although it is not in order as 
such to provide for a new building in place of one destroyed (IV, 3606). 
Nor is it in order to repair paving adjacent to a public building but in 
a city street, although it may have been laid originally by the 
Government (IV, 3779). The purchase of adjoining land for a work already 
established has been admitted under this principle (IV, 3766-3773) and 
also additions to existing buildings in cases where no limits of cost 
have been shown (IV, 3774, 3775). But the purchase of a separate and 
detached lot of land is not admitted (IV, 3776). The continuation of 
construction at the Kennedy Library, a project owned by the United 
States and funded by a prior year's appropriation, has been admitted 
notwithstanding the absence of any current authorization (June 14, 1988, 
p. 14335). A provision of law authorizing Commissioners of the District 
of Columbia to take over and operate the fish wharves of the city of 
Washington was held insufficient authority to admit an appropriation for 
reconstructing the fish wharf (VII, 1187).




Sec. 841a. New buildings at existing 
institutions as in continuance of a public work.

  Appropriations for  new buildings at 
Government institutions have sometimes been admitted (IV, 3741-3750) 
when intended for the purposes of the institution (IV, 3747); but later 
decisions, in view of the indefinite extent of the practice made 
possible by the early decisions, have ruled out propositions to 
appropriate for new buildings in navy yards (IV, 3755-3759) and other 
establishments (IV, 3751-3754). Appropriations for new schoolhouses in 
the District of Columbia (IV, 3750; VII, 1358), for new Army hospitals 
(IV, 3740), for new lighthouses (IV, 3728), armor-plate factories (IV, 
3737-3739), and for additional playgrounds for children in the District 
of Columbia (IV, 3792) have also been held not to be in continuation of 
a public work.




Sec. 841b. New vessel for naval and other services 
as in continuation of a public work.

  By a former  broad construction of the rule an 
appropriation of a new and not otherwise authorized vessel of the Navy 
had been held to be a continuance of a public work (IV, 3723, 3724); but 
this line of decisions has been overruled (VII, 1351; Chairman Lehlbach, 
Jan. 22, 1926, p. 2621). While appropriations for new construction and 
procurement of aircraft and equipment for the Navy are not in order, 
appropriations for continuing experiments and development work on all 
types of aircraft are in order (Chairman Lehlbach, Jan. 22, 1926, p. 
2623). This former interpretation was confined to naval vessels, and did 
not apply to vessels in other services, like the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey or Lighthouse Service (IV, 3725, 3726), or to floating or 
stationary dry docks (IV, 3729-3736). The construction of a submarine 
cable in extension of one already laid was held not to be the 
continuation of a public work (IV, 3716), but an appropriation for the 
Washington-Alaska military cable has been held in order (VII, 1348).



[[Page 638]]
1993, p. ----). Existing law may be repeated verbatim in an 
appropriation bill (IV, 3814, 3815), but the slightest change of the 
text causes it be ruled out (IV, 3817; VII, 1391, 1394; June 4, 1970, p. 
18405). It is in order to include language descriptive of authority 
provided in law for the operation of government agencies and 
corporations so long as the description is precise and does not change 
that authority in any respect (June 15, 1973, pp. 19843-44; Aug. 3, 
1978, p. 24249); and while language merely reciting the applicability of 
current law to the use of earmarked funds is permitted, an amendment 
that elevates existing guidelines to mandates for spending has been 
ruled out (July 12, 1989, p. 14432). Although the object to be 
appropriated for may be described without violating the rule (IV, 3864), 
an amendment proposing an appropriation under a heading that indicates 
an unauthorized purpose as its object has been ruled out (Oct. 29, 1991, 
p. ----). The fact that an item has been carried in appropriation bills 
for many years does not exempt it from a point of order as being 
legislation (VII, 1445, 1656). The reenactment from year to year of a 
law intended to apply during the year of its enactment only is not 
relieved, however, from the point that it is legislation (IV, 3822).


Sec. 842a. Legislation on appropriation bills 
generally.

  The provision of  the rule forbidding in any general appropriation bill a 
``provision changing existing law'' is construed to mean the enactment 
of law where none exists (IV, 3812, 3813), such as permitting funds to 
remain available until expended or beyond the fiscal year covered by the 
bill, where existing law permits no such availability (Aug. 1, 1973, pp. 
27288-89), or immediately upon enactment (July 29, 1986, p. 17981; June 
28, 1988, p. 16255) or merely permits availability to the extent 
provided in advance in appropriation Acts but not explicitly beyond the 
fiscal year in question (July 21, 1981, p. 16687). Language waiving the 
provisions of existing law where the law being waived permits exceptions 
therefrom to be contained in appropriation laws but not in appropriation 
bills (Nov. 13, 1975, p. 36271), has been ruled out, as has language 
identical to that contained in an authorization bill previously passed 
by the House but not yet signed into law (Aug. 4, 1978, p. 24436), or a 
proposition for repeal of existing law (VII, 1403). Although clause 2(b) 
permits the Committee on Appropriations to report rescissions of 
appropriations, an amendment proposing a rescission constitutes 
legislation under clause 2(c) (May 26, 


  Limits of cost for public works may not be made or changed (IV, 3761, 
3865-3867; VII, 1446), or contracts authorized (IV, 3868-3870; May 14, 
1937, p. 4595).

  The Chair may examine legislative history established during debate on 
an amendment against which a point of order has been reserved to resolve 
any ambiguity therein when ruling on the eventual point of order (June 
14, 1978, p. 17651), and may inquire after its author's intent when 
attempting to construe an ambiguous amendment (Oct. 29, 1991, p. ----).



Sec. 842b. Contingencies and congressional 
actions.

  An  amendment making an appropriation contingent upon a 
recommendation (June 27, 1979, pp. 17054-55) or action not specifically 
required by law (July 23, 1980, pp. 19295-97; July 29, 1980, pp. 20098-
200100) is legislation. For example, where existing law requires an 
agency to furnish certain information to congressional committees upon 
request, without a subpoena, it is not in order on an appropriation bill 
to make funding for that agency contingent upon its furnishing 
information to subcommittees upon request (July 29 and July 30, 1980, 
pp. 20475-76), or contingent upon submission of an agreement by a 
Federal official to Congress and Congressional review thereof (July 31, 
1986, p. 18370). Similarly, it is not in order on a general 
appropriation bill to condition funds on legal determinations to be made 
by a federal court and an executive department (June 28, 1988, p. 16261; 
see Deschler's Precedents, vol. 8, ch. 26, sec. 47.2).



[[Page 639]]
concurrent resolutions of the Congress, was legislation imposing new 
requirements of further legislative action. On May 15, 1947 (p. 5378), 
the Chair ruled out as legislation an amendment providing that a certain 
appropriation did not grant authority for a certain use of funds unless 
specific approval of Congress was subsequently granted. Two subsequent 
rulings upholding the admissibility of amendments making the 
availability of funds in a general appropriation bill contingent upon 
subsequent Congressional action (June 11, 1968, p. 16692; Sept. 6, 1979, 
pp. 23360-61) have, in turn, been superseded by four more recent 
rulings. On November 18, 1981 (p. 28064), a provision making the 
availability of certain funds contingent upon subsequent Congressional 
action on legislative proposals resolving the policy issue was held to 
constitute legislation; on November 2, 1983 (p. 30503), an amendment to 
a general appropriation bill making the availability of funds therein 
contingent upon subsequent enactment of legislation containing specified 
findings was ruled out as legislation requiring new legislative and 
executive branch policy determinations not required by law; on June 29, 
1987 (p. 18083), an amendment changing a permanent appropriation in 
existing law to restrict its availability until all general 
appropriation bills are presented to the President was held to 
constitute legislation; and on June 27, 1994 (p. ----), an amendment 
limiting funds in the bill for certain peacekeeping operations unless 
authorized by Congress was held to constitute legislation.
  Amendments making the availability of funds in a general appropriation 
bill contingent upon subsequent Congressional action have, under the 
most recent precedents, been ruled out as legislation. On June 30, 1942 
(p. 5826) the Chair ruled that an amendment prohibiting the availability 
of funds to enforce certain executive orders, unless those orders were 
approved by 

  It is not in order on a general appropriation bill to require a 
congressional committee to promulgate regulations to limit the use of an 
appropriation (June 13, 1979, pp. 14670-71), or otherwise to direct the 
activities of a committee (June 24, 1992, p. ---- and ----); nor is it 
in order to direct the Selective Service Administration to issue 
regulations to bring its classifications into conformance with a Supreme 
Court decision (July 20, 1989, p. 15405). Also a proposition to change a 
rule of the House is subject to the point of order (IV, 3819). A 
provision constituting Congressional disapproval of a deferral of budget 
authority proposed by the President pursuant to the Impoundment Control 
Act is not in order if included in a general appropriation bill rather 
than in a separate resolution of disapproval under that Act (July 29, 
1982, pp. 18625, 18626). An amendment making the availability of funds 
in a general appropriation bill contingent upon a substantive 
determination by a state or local government official or agency which is 
not otherwise required by existing law has been ruled out as legislation 
(July 25, 1985, p. 20569).


[[Page 640]]
In interpreting the responsibilities imposed upon Federal officials by 
existing law to determine whether an amendment constitutes a change in 
that law, the Chair may take into account the fact that Federal court 
rulings have not been uniform or finally dispositive of procedural 
duties mandated by the Constitution, as in the case of the requirement 
of a search warrant, based on probable cause, for an inspection by an 
administrative and regulatory agency (June 16, 1977, pp. 19365-74; June 
7, 1978, p. 16676).


Sec. 842c. Construing or amending existing 
law.

  A provision  proposing to construe existing law is in itself a proposition of 
legislation and therefore not in order (IV, 3936-3938; May 2, 1951, pp. 
4747-48; July 26, 1951, p. 8982), but while a limitation on the use of 
funds may require executive officers to construe the language of that 
limitation in administering those funds, that duty of statutory 
construction, absent a further imposition of an affirmative direction 
not required by law, does not destroy the validity of the limitation 
(June 27, 1974, pp. 21687-94). 


  An amendment which does not limit or restrict the use or expenditure 
of funds in the bill, but which expresses the sense of Congress that 
reductions in appropriations in other bills should reflect the 
proportionate reductions made in the pending bill (Oct. 21, 1990, p. --
--) or directs the way in which all provisions in the bill must be 
interpreted or construed, is legislation (Aug. 27, 1980, p. 23535; May 
17, 1988, p. 11305), although it has been held in order to except from 
the operation of a specific limitation on expenditures, certain of those 
expenditures which are authorized by law, by prohibiting a construction 
of the limitation in a way which would prevent compliance with that law 
(Mar. 24, 1944, p. 3095; June 18, 1991, p. ----). The mere recitation in 
an amendment that a determination is to be made pursuant to existing 
laws and regulations, absent a citation to the law imposing such 
responsibility, is not sufficient proof by the proponent of an amendment 
to overcome a point of order that the amendment constitutes legislation 
(Sept. 16, 1980, pp. 25606-07; May 8, 1986, p. 10156). An amendment 
denying the use of funds for the Treasury Department to apply certain 
provisions of the Internal Revenue Code other than under regulations and 
court decisions in effect on a prior date is legislation since requiring 
an official to apply interpretations no longer current in order to 
render an appropriation available (June 7, 1978, p. 16655; Aug. 19, 
1980, pp. 21978-80). A paragraph of a general appropriation bill 
changing existing law concerning federal diversity jurisdiction is 
legislation (July 1, 1987, p. 18638).


[[Page 641]]
the proponent can show that the new duties are merely incidental to 
functions already required by law and do not involve substantive new 
determinations (July 26, 1985, p. 20807). Where an amendment to or 
language in a general appropriation bill implicitly places new duties on 
officers of the government or implicitly requires them to make 
investigations, compile evidence, or make judgments and determinations 
not otherwise required of them by law, such as to judge intent or 
motives, then it assumes the character of legislation and is subject to 
a point of order (July 31, 1969, pp. 21653, 21675, where the words ``in 
order to overcome racial imbalance'' were held to impose additional 
duties, and Nov. 30, 1982, p. 28062, where the words ``to interfere 
with'' the rulemaking authority of any regulatory agency were held to 
implicitly require the Office of Management and Budget to make 
determinations not discernibly required by law in evaluating and 
executing its responsibilities). An amendment authorizing the President 
to reduce each appropriation in the bill by not more than ten percent 
was ruled out as legislation conferring new authority on the President 
(May 31, 1984, p. 14617; June 6, 1984, p. 15120). A limitation on the 
use of funds, or an exception therefrom, may not be accompanied by 
language stating or requiring a finding of a motive or purpose in 
carrying out the limitation (Aug. 8, 1978, pp. 24969-70; July 22, 1980, 
pp. 19087-88; Sept. 16, 1980, p. 25604; Sept. 22, 1981, p. 21577). A 
paragraph prohibiting the use of funds to perform abortions except where 
the mother's life would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term 
is legislation, since requiring federal officials to make new 
determinations and judgments not required of them by law, regardless 
whether private or State officials administering the funds in question 
routinely make such determinations (June 17, 1977, p. 1969; June 30, 
1993, p. ----). The fact that such a provision relating to abortion 
funding may have been included in appropriation Acts in prior years 
applicable to funds in those laws does not permit the inclusion of 
similar language requiring such determinations, not required by law, 
with respect to funds for the fiscal year in question (Sept. 22, 1983, 
p. 25406); and where the provision, applicable to federal funds, was 
permitted to remain in a bill (no point of order having been made), an 
amendment striking the word ``Federal,'' and thereby broadening the 
provision to include District of Columbia funds as well, was ruled out 
(Nov. 15, 1989, p. 29004). But to such a provision permitted to remain 
in a general appropriation bill, an amendment exempting instead cases 
where the health of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were 
carried to term was held not to constitute further legislation by 
requiring any different or more onerous determinations (June 27, 1984, 
p. 19113). An amendment prohibiting the use of funds in an appropriation 
bill for the General Services Administration to dispose of U.S.-owned 
``agricultural'' land declared surplus was ruled out as legislation, 
since the determination whether surplus lands are ``agricultural'' was 
not required by law (Aug. 20, 1980, pp. 22156-58); but a limitation 
precluding funds for any transit project exceeding a specified cost-
effectiveness index was held not to impose new duties where the 

[[Page 642]]
Chair was persuaded that the limitation applied to projects for which 
indexes were already required by law (Sept. 23, 1993, p. ----). The fact 
that an executive official may have been directed by an executive order 
to consult another executive official prior to taking an action does not 
permit inclusion of language directing the official being consulted to 
make determinations not specifically required by law (July 22, 1980, pp. 
19087-88).


Sec. 842d. Imposing duties or requiring 
determinations.

  Propositions to  establish affirmative directions for executive 
officers (IV, 3854-3859; VII, 1443; July 31, 1969, p. 21675; June 18, 
1979, pp. 15286-87; July 1, 1987, pp. 18654 and 18655; June 27, 1994, p. 
----), even in cases where they may have discretion under the law so to 
do (IV, 3853; June 4, 1970, p. 18401; Aug. 8, 1978, pp. 24959-60), or to 
affirmatively take away an authority or discretion conferred by law (IV, 
3862, 3863; VII, 1975; Mar. 30, 1955, pp. 4065-66; June 21, 1974, p. 
20600; July 31, 1985, p. 21909), are subject to the point of order. 
While any limitation in an appropriation bill (see Sec. 483, supra) 
places some minimal duties on federal officials, who must determine the 
effect of such a limitation on appropriated funds, an amendment or 
language in an appropriation bill may not impose additional duties, not 
required by law, or make the appropriation contingent upon the 
performance of such duties (May 28, 1968, p. 15350). Language in the 
form of a conditional limitation requiring determinations by Federal 
officials will be held to change existing law unless 


  An amendment limiting use of funds in a bill may not condition the 
availability of funds or the exercise of contract authority upon an 
interpretation of local law where that interpretation is not required by 
existing law (July 17, 1981, p. 16327); may not require new 
determinations of full Federal compliance with mandates imposed upon 
States (July 22, 1981, p. 16829); may not require the evaluation of the 
theoretical basis of a program (July 22, 1981, p. 16822); may not 
require new determinations of propriety or effectiveness (Oct. 6, 1981, 
p. 23361; May 25, 1988, p. 12275), or satisfactory quality (Aug. 1, 
1986, p. 18647) or incorporate by reference determinations already made 
in administrative processes not affecting programs funded by the bill 
(Oct. 6, 1981, p. 23361); may not require new determinations of rates of 
interest payable (July 29, 1982, p. 18624; Dec. 9, 1982, p. 29691); may 
not apply standards of conduct to foreign entities where existing law 
requires such conduct only by domestic entities (July 17, 1986, p. 
16951); may not require the enforcement of a standard where existing law 
only requires inspection of an area (July 30, 1986, p. 18189); may not 
prohibit the availability of funds for the purchase of ``nondomestic'' 
goods and services (Sept. 12, 1986, p. 23178); may not mandate 
contractual provisions (May 18, 1988, p. 11389); may not authorize the 
adjustment of wages of government employees (June 21, 1988, p. 15451; 
Apr. 26, 1989, p. 7525) or permit an increase in Members' office 
allowances only ``if requested in writing'' (Oct. 21, 1990, p. ----); 
may not convert an existing legal prerequisite for the issuance of a 
regulatory permit into a prerequisite for even the preliminary 
processing of such a permit (July 22, 1992, p. ----); may not mandate 
reductions in various appropriations by a variable percentaage 
calculated in relation to ``overhead'' (Deschler's Precedents, vol. 8, 
ch. 26, sec. 5.6; June 24, 1992, p. ----); and may not require an agency 
to investigate and determine whether private airports are collecting 
certain fees for each enplaning passenger (Sept. 23, 1993, p. ----). 
However, an amendment limiting use of funds in the bill may deny the 
availability of funds in situations where certain information is 
``already known'' (VII, 1695; see also Aug. 1, 1989, p. ----, and June 
22, 1995, p. ----, where motions to recommit with ``made known'' 
limitations were ruled out as proposing limitations not considered by 
the Committee of the Whole rather than as proposing changes in existing 
law).


[[Page 643]]
ity (Mar. 12, 1975, p. 6338), as in an amendment requiring not less 
than a certain sum to be used for a particular purpose where existing 
law does not mandate such expenditure (June 18, 1976, p. 19297; July 29, 
1982, p. 18623), or where an amendment earmarks appropriated funds to 
the arts to require their expenditure pursuant to standards otherwise 
applicable only as guidelines (July 12, 1989, p. 14432). Where existing 
law directed a federal official to provide for sale of certain 
government property to a private organization in ``necessary'' amounts, 
an amendment providing that no such property be withheld from 
distribution from qualifying purchasers is legislation, since requiring 
disposal of all property and restricting discretionary authority to 
determine ``necessary'' amounts (Aug. 7, 1978, p. 24707). An amendment 
directing the use of funds to assure compliance with an existing law, 
where existing law does not so mandate, also is legislation (June 24, 
1976, p. 20370). So-called ``hold-harmless'' provisions which mandate a 
certain level of expenditure for certain purposes or recipients, where 
existing law confers discretion or makes ratable reductions in such 
expenditures, also constitute legislation (Apr. 16, 1975, p. 10357; June 
25, 1976, p. 20557). A transfer of available funds from one Department 
to another with directions as to the use to which those funds must be 
put is legislation (and also a reappropriation in violation of clause 6 
of this rule) (Dec. 8, 1982, p. 29449). A provision requiring States to 
match funds provided in an appropriation bill was held to constitute 
legislation where existing law contained no such requirement (June 28, 
1993, p. ----).


Sec. 842e. Mandating expenditures.

  A provision  which 
mandates a distribution of funds in contravention of an allocation 
formula in existing law is legislation (July 29, 1982, pp. 18637, 18638; 
Oct. 5, 1983, p. 27335; Aug. 2, 1989, p. 18123), as is an amendment 
which by such a mandate interferes with an executive official's 
discretionary author



[[Page 644]]
was held to be perfecting (July 30, 1990, p. ----); but striking the 
date and inserting a new trigger (the enactment of other legislation), 
was held to be additional legislation (July 30, 1990, p. ----).


Sec. 842f. Waivers; amending legislation permitted 
to remain.

  The House  may, by agreeing to a report from the Committee on Rules or 
by adopting an order under suspension of the rules, allow legislation on 
general appropriation bills (IV, 3260-3263, 3839-3845). A paragraph 
which proposes legislation or an unauthorized appropriation being 
permitted to remain, by special order or by failure to raise a point of 
order, may be perfected by germane amendment (IV, 3823-3835, 3838; VII, 
1405, 1413-1415; June 9, 1954, pp. 5963-64; Sept. 11, 1985, p. 23398; 
June 14, 1988, p. 14341), but this does not permit an amendment which 
adds additional legislation (IV, 3836, 3837, 3862; VII, 1402-1436; Dec. 
9, 1971, pp. 4595-96; Aug. 1, 1973, pp. 27291-92; June 10, 1977, p. 
1802; June 28, 1988, pp. 16203, 16213; Aug. 2, 1989, p. 18172; Nov. 15, 
1989, p. 29004), or earmarks for unauthorized purposes (July 17, 1985, 
p. 19435; July 17, 1986, p. 16918), or earmarks by directing a new use 
of funds not required by law (July 26, 1985, pp. 20811, 20813), or 
indirectly increases an unauthorized amount by adding to that amnount 
with new language at another portion of the bill (July 12, 1995, p. ----
). An amendment to a general appropriation bill is not subject to a 
point of order as adding legislation if containing, verbatim, a 
legislative provision already contained in the bill and permitted to 
remain (Aug. 27, 1980, p. 23519). To a paragraph permitted to remain 
though containing a legislative proviso restricting the obligation of 
funds until a date within the fiscal year, an amendment striking the 
delimiting date, thus applying the restriction for the entire year, 




Sec. 842g. Senate amendments.

  The principle  seems to be 
generally well accepted that the House proposing legislation on a 
general appropriation bill should recede if the other House persists in 
its objection (IV, 3904-3908), and clause 2 of rule XX (Sec. 829, supra) 
prohibits House conferees from agreeing to a Senate amendment which 
proposes legislation on an appropriation bill without specific authority 
from the House. But where a Senate amendment proposing legislation on a 
general appropriation bill is, pursuant to the edict of clause 2 of rule 
XX, reported back from conference in disagreement, a motion to concur in 
the Senate amendment with a further amendment is in order, even if the 
proposed amendment adds legislation to that contained in the Senate 
amendment, and the only test is whether the proposed amendment is 
germane to the Senate amendment reported in disagreement (IV, 3909; 
VIII, 3188, 3189; Speaker McCormack, Dec. 15, 1970, pp. 41504-05; Aug. 
1, 1979, pp. 22007-11; Speaker O'Neill, Dec. 12, 1979, pp. 35520-21; 
June 30, 1987, p. 18308).




Sec. 843a. Limitations on appropriation bills 
generally.

  Although the  rule forbids on any general appropriation bill a provision 
``changing existing law,'' which is construed to mean legislation 
generally, the practice of the House has established the principle that 
certain ``limitations'' may be admitted. Just as the House may decline 
to appropriate for a purpose authorized by law, so may it by limitation 
prohibit the use of the money for part of the purpose while 
appropriating for the remainder of it (IV, 3936; VII, 1595). The 
language of the limitation provides that no part of the appropriation 
under consideration shall be used for a certain designated purpose (IV, 
3917-3926; VII, 1580). And this designated purpose may reach the 
question of qualifications, for while it is not in order to legislate as 
to the qualifications of the recipients of an appropriation the House 
may specify that no part of the appropriation shall go to recipients 
lacking certain qualifications (IV, 3942-3952; VII, 1655; June 4, 1970, 
pp. 18412-13; June 27, 1974, p. 21662; Oct. 9, 1974, p. 34712; June 9, 
1978, p. 16990). The limitation must apply solely to the money of the 
appropriation under consideration (VII, 1597, 1600, 1720; Feb. 26, 1958, 
p. 2895), and may not be made applicable to money appropriated in other 
acts (IV, 3927, 3928; VII, 1495, 1525; June 28, 1971, pp. 22442-43; June 
27, 1974, pp. 21670-72; May 13, 1981, p. 9663), and may not require 
funds available to an agency in any future fiscal year for a certain 
purpose be subject to limitations specified in advance in appropriations 
Acts (May 8, 1986, p. 10156). A restriction on authority to incur 
obligations is legislative in nature and not a limitation on funds (July 
13, 1987, p. 19507; Sept. 23, 1993, p. ----).



[[Page 645]]
on Appropriations from limiting their availability to the fiscal year 
covered by the bill unless existing law mandates availability beyond the 
fiscal year (June 25, 1974, p. 21040; see also Procedure, ch. 25, secs. 
9-17). The fact that a provision would constitute legislation for only a 
year does not make it a limitation in order under the rule (IV, 3936). 
Nor may a proposition to construe a law be admitted (IV, 3936-3938). 
Care should also be taken that the language of limitation be not such 
as, when fairly construed, would change existing law (IV, 3976-3983) or 
justify an executive officer in assuming an intent to change existing 
law (IV, 3984; VII, 1706). Although the Committee on Appropriations may 
include in a general appropriation bill language not in existing law 
limiting the use of funds in the bill, if such language also constitutes 
an appropriation it must be authorized by law (June 21, 1988, p. 15439).
  The fact that existing law authorizes funds to be available until 
expended or without regard to fiscal year limitation does not prevent 
the Committee 



Sec. 843b. Effect of limitation on executive 
discretion.

  The limitation  may not be applied directly to the official functions of 
executive officers (IV, 3957-3966; VII, 1673, 1678, 1685), but it may 
restrict executive discretion so far as this may be done by a simple 
negative on the use of the appropriation (IV, 3968-3972; VII, 1583, 
1653, 1694; Sept. 14, 1972, pp. 30749-50; June 21, 1974, pp. 20601-02; 
Oct. 9, 1974, p. 34716). An appropriation may be withheld from a 
designated object by a negative limitation on the use of funds, although 
contracts may be left unsatisfied thereby (IV, 3987; July 10, 1975, p. 
22005); but coupling a denial of an appropriation with a negative 
restriction on official duties constitutes by reason of the use of a 
double negative an affirmative direction and is not in order (VII, 1690-
1692). Similarly, using a double negative to limit the availability of 
funds to prohibit the obligation of funds for an unauthorized project 
(effectively authorizing an unauthorized project) is not in order (Sept. 
23, 1993, p. ----).


  But such limitations must not give affirmative directions (IV, 3854-
3859, 3975; VII, 1637), and must not impose new duties upon an executive 
officer (VII, 1676; June 11, 1968, p. 16712; July 31, 1969, pp. 21631-
33); and may not directly interfere with discretionary authority in law 
by establishing a level of funding below which expenditures may not be 
made (VII, 1704; July 20, 1978, p. 21856).


[[Page 646]]
to the extent of its denial of availability of funds (VII, 1694; Oct. 
9, 1974, p. 34716).
  In construing a proposed limitation, if the Chair finds the purpose to 
be legislative, in that the intent is to restrict executive discretion 
to a degree that may be fairly termed a change in policy rather than a 
matter of administrative detail, he should sustain the point of order, 
as where a limitation is accompanied by language stating a legislative 
motive or purpose in carrying out the limitation (Aug. 8, 1978, p. 
24969), or where existing law and the Constitution require a census to 
be taken of all persons and an amendment seeks to preclude the use of 
funds to exclude another class ``known'' to the Secretary (Aug. 1, 1989, 
p. 17156). However, language in a general appropriation bill may, by 
negatively refusing to include funds for all or part of an authorized 
executive function, thereby affect policy 

  It is not in order, even by language in the form of a limitation, to 
restrict not the use or amount of appropriated funds but the 
discretionary authority conferred by law to administer their 
expenditure, such as by limiting the percentage of funds that may be 
apportioned for expenditure within a certain period of time (Deschler's 
Precedents, vol. 8, ch. 26, sec. 51.23), or by precluding the obligation 
of certain funds in the bill until funds provided by another Act have 
been obligated (Deschler's Precedents, vol. 8, ch. 26, sec. 48.8). The 
burden is on the proponent to show that such a proposal does not change 
existing law by restricting the timing of the expenditure of funds 
rather than their availability for specified objects (Deschler's 
Precedents, vol. 8, ch. 26, secs. 64.23 and 80.5).

  As long as a limitation on the use of funds restricts the expenditure 
of Federal funds carried in the bill without changing existing law, the 
limitation is in order, even if the Federal funds in question are 
commingled with non-Federal funds which would have to be accounted for 
separately in carrying out the limitation (Aug. 20, 1980, pp. 22171-72). 
An amendment providing that no Federal funds provided in the District of 
Columbia general appropriation bill be used to perform abortions is not 
legislation, since Federal officials have the responsibility to account 
for all appropriations for the annual Federal payment and for 
disbursement of all taxes collected by the District of Columbia, 
pursuant to the D.C. Code (July 17, 1979, p. 19066).


[[Page 647]]
amendment prohibiting the use of funds to carry out any ruling of the 
Internal Revenue Service which rules that taxpayers are not entitled to 
certain charitable deductions was held in order as a limitation, since 
merely descriptive of an existing ruling already promulgated and not 
requiring any new determinations as to the applicability of the 
limitation to other categories of taxpayers (July 16, 1979, pp. 18808-
10). An amendment reducing the availability of funds for trade 
adjustment assistance by amounts of unemployment insurance entitlements 
was held in order where the law establishing trade adjustment assistance 
already required the disbursing agency to take into consideration levels 
of unemployment insurance in determining payment levels (June 18, 1980, 
pp. 15355-56). A limitation precluding funds for any transit project 
exceeding a specified cost-effectiveness index was held not to impose 
new duties where the Chair was persuaded that the limitation applied to 
projects for which indexes were already required by law (Sept. 23, 1993, 
p. ----). A limitation precluding the use of funds to enforce FAA 
regulations to require domestic air carriers to surrender more than a 
specified number of ``slots'' at a given airport in preference of 
international air carriers was held not to impose new duties on FAA 
officials because existing regulations already required the FAA to 
determine the origin of withdrawn slots (Sept. 23, 1993, p. ----). An 
exception stating that the limitation does not prohibit the use of funds 
for designated Federal activities which are already authorized by law in 
more general terms, was held in order as not containing legislation 
(June 27, 1979, pp. 17033-35), as was an exception from a valid 
limitation prohibiting construction of that limitation in such a way as 
to prevent funding of a particular authorized activity (Mar. 24, 1944, 
p. 3095; June 18, 1991, p. ----). The following amendments also have 
been in order: denying use of funds to eliminate an existing legal 
requirement for sureties on custom bonds (June 27, 1984, p. 19101); 
denying use of funds by any federal official in any manner which would 
prevent a provision of existing law from being enforced (relating to 
import restrictions) (June 27, 1984, p. 19101); and denying use of funds 
for any reduction in Customs Service regions or for any consolidation of 
Customs Service offices (June 27, 1984, p. 19102). An amendment in the 
form of a limitation prohibiting the use of funds in a general 
appropriation bill for the construction of certain facilities unless 
such construction were subject to a project agreement was held not in 
order during the reading of the bill, even though existing law directed 
federal officials to enter into such project agreements, on the ground 
that limitation amendments are in order during the reading only where 
existing law requires or permits the inclusion of limiting language in 
an appropriation Act, and not merely where the limitation is alleged to 
be ``consistent with existing law'' (June 28, 1988, p. 16267). 
Similarly, language in a general appropriation bill containing an 
averment necessary to qualify for certain scorekeeping under the Budget 
Act was conceded to be legislation (July 20, 1989, p. 15374), even 
though the Budget Act contemplates that expenditures may be mandated to 
occur before or following a fiscal period 

[[Page 648]]
if the law making those expenditures specifies that the timing is the 
result of a ``significant'' policy change (July 20, 1989, p. 15374).



Sec. 843c. Limitations consistent with existing 
law.

  An amendment  denying the use of funds in the bill to pay the salaries of 
federal officials who perform certain functions under existing law is a 
proper limitation if the description of those duties precisely follows 
existing law and does not require them to perform new duties (June 24, 
1976, p. 20373), just as an amendment denying such funds to a Federal 
official not in compliance with an existing law which he is charged with 
enforcing is a valid limitation placing no new duties on that Federal 
official (Sept. 10, 1981, p. 20110). The fact that a limitation on the 
use of funds may indirectly interfere with an executive official's 
discretionary authority by denying the use of funds (June 24, 1976, p. 
20408) or may impose certain incidental burdens on executive officials 
(Aug. 25, 1976, p. 27737) does not destroy the character of the 
limitation as long as it does not directly amend existing law and is 
descriptive of functions and findings already required to be undertaken 
by existing law. As it is in order by way of a limitation to deny the 
use of funds for implementation of an executive order, an amendment 
precisely describing the contents of the executive order does not 
constitute legislation solely for that reason (Mar. 16, 1977, p. 7748). 
And the fact that the regulation for which funds are denied may have 
been promulgated pursuant to court order and pursuant to constitutional 
provisions is an argument on the merits of the amendment and does not 
render it legislative in nature (Aug. 19, 1980, pp. 21981-84). An 



               ``holman rule'' on retrenching expenditures



Sec. 844a. Legislation reducing 
expenditures.

  Decisions under  the so-called ``Holman Rule'' in clause 2 of rule XXI 
have been rare in the modern practice of the House. The trend in 
construing language in general appropriation bills or amendments thereto 
has been to minimize the importance of the ``Holman Rule'' in those 
cases where the decision can be made on other grounds. The practice of 
using limitations in appropriation bills has been perfected in recent 
years so that most modern decisions by the Chair deal with distinctions 
between such limitations and matters which are deemed to be legislation 
(see Secs. 842 and 843, supra). Under the modern practice, the 
``Holman Rule'' only applies where an obvious reduction is achieved by 
the provision in question and does not apply to limiting language 
unaccompanied by a reduction of funds in the bill (July 16, 1979, pp. 
18808-10). It has no application to an amendment to an appropriation 
bill which does not legislate but is merely a negative limitation citing 
but not changing existing law (June 18, 1980, pp. 15355-56).


  A paragraph containing legislation reported in an appropriation bill 
to be in order must on its face show a retrenchment of a type which 
conforms to the requirements of the rule (Chairman Lehlbach, Mar. 17, 
1926, p. 5804).


[[Page 649]]

  The reduction of expenditure must appear as a necessary result, in 
order to bring an amendment or provision within the exception to the 
rule. It is not sufficient that such reduction would probably, or would 
in the opinion of the Chair, result therefrom (IV, 3887; VII, 1530-
1534). Thus, an amendment to a general appropriation bill providing that 
appropriations made in that act are hereby reduced by $7 billion, though 
legislative in form, was held in order under the ``Holman Rule'' 
exception (Apr. 5, 1966, p. 7689), but an amendment providing for 
certain reductions of appropriations carried in the bill based on the 
President's budget estimates was held not to show a reduction on its 
face and to provide merely speculative reductions (Deschler's 
Precedents, vol. 8, ch. 26, sec. 5.6; June 24, 1992, p. ----). An 
amendment authorizing the President to reduce each appropriation in the 
bill by not more than ten percent was ruled out as legislation 
conferring new authority on the President (May 31, 1984, p. 14617; June 
6, 1984, p. 15120). An amendment reducing an unauthorized amount 
permitted to remain in a general appropriation bill is in order as a 
retrenchment under this clause (Oct. 1, 1975, p. 31058). An amendment to 
a general appropriation bill denying the availability of funds to 
certain recipients but which requires federal officials to make 
additional determinations as to the qualifications of recipients is 
legislation and is not a retrenchment of expenditures where it is not 
apparent that the prohibition will reduce the amounts covered by the 
bill (June 26, 1973, p. 21389). 

  The amendment must not only show on its face an attempt to retrench 
but must also be germane to some provision in the bill even though 
offered by direction of the committee having jurisdiction of the subject 
matter of the amendment (VII, 1549; Dec. 16, 1911, p. 442). An amendment 
providing that appropriations ``herein and heretofore made'' shall be 
reduced by $70 million through the reduction of Federal employees as the 
President determines was held to be legislative and not germane to the 
bill, since it went to funds other than those carried therein, and was 
therefore not within the ``Holman Rule'' exception (Oct. 18, 1966, p. 
27425).

  An amendment reducing an amount in an appropriation bill for the 
Postal Service and prohibiting the use of funds therein to implement 
special bulk third-class rates for political committees was held in 
order since not specifically requiring new determination and since 
constituting a retrenchment of expenditures even if assumed to be 
legislative (July 13, 1979, pp. 18453-55).

  As long as an amendment calls for an obvious reduction at some point 
in time during the fiscal year, the amendment is in order under the 
``Holman Rule'' even if the reduction takes place in the future in an 
amount actually determined when the reduction takes place (for example, 
by formula) (VII, 1491, 1505; July 30, 1980, pp. 20499-20503). To an 
amendment that is in order under the ``Holman Rule,'' containing 
legislation but retrenching expenditures by formula for every agency 
funded by the bill, an amendment exempting from that reduction several 
specific programs does not add further legislation and is in order (July 
30, 1980, pp. 20499-20503).

  A motion to recommit the District of Columbia appropriation bill with 
instructions to reduce the proportion of the fund appropriated from the 
Public Treasury from one-half, as provided in the bill, to one-fourth of 
the entire appropriation is in order, since the effect of the amendment 
if adopted would reduce the expenditure of public money although not 
reducing the amount of the appropriation (VII, 1518).

  The term ``retrenchment'' means the reduction of the amount of money 
to be taken out of the Federal Treasury by the bill, and therefore a 
reduction of the amount of money to be contributed toward the expenses 
of the District of Columbia is in order as a retrenchment (VII, 1502).

  An amendment proposed to an item for the recoinage of uncurrent 
fractional silver, which amendment struck out the amount appropriated 
and added a provision for the coinage of all the bullion in the Treasury 
into standard silver dollars, the cost of such coinage and recoinage to 
be paid out of the Government's seigniorage, was held not to be in order 
under the rule; first, because not germane to the subject matter of the 
bill (the sundry civil); second, because it did not appear that any 
retrenchment of expenditure would result, the seigniorage being the 
property of the Government as other funds in the Treasury (VII, 1547).


[[Page 650]]
provide routes and make contracts in certain cases, with the further 
provision ``and the amount of appropriation herein for star routes is 
hereby reduced to $500.'' A point of order made against the first or 
legislative part of the amendment was sustained, which decision was, on 
appeal, affirmed by the committee (VII, 1555).
  To an item of appropriation for inland transportation of mails by star 
routes an amendment was offered requiring the Postmaster General to 

  To a clause appropriating for the foreign mail service an amendment 
reducing the appropriation, and in addition repealing the act known as 
the ``subsidy act,'' was held not in order because the repealing of this 
act was not germane to the appropriation bill; and that to be in order 
both branches of the amendment must be germane to the bill (VII, 1548).

  A provision in the agricultural appropriation bill transferring the 
supervision of the importation of animals from the Treasury to the 
Department of Agriculture is out of order, being a provision changing 
law and not retrenching expenditure (IV, 3886).

  Where a paragraph containing new legislation provides in one part for 
a discharge of employees, which means a retrenchment, and in another 
part embodies legislation to bring about the particular retrenchment 
which in turn shows on its face an expenditure the amount of which is 
not apparent, the Chair is unable to hold that the net result will 
retrench expenditures. But where the additional legislation does not 
show on its face an additional expenditure, the Chair will not speculate 
as to a possible expenditure under the additional legislation (VII, 
1500).



[[Page 651]]

  As explained in the annotation in Sec. 834, supra, the amendment of 
clause 2(b) in the 98th Congress narrowed the ``Holman Rule'' exception 
to the general prohibition against legislation to cover only 
retrenchments reducing amounts of money covered by the bill, and not 
retrenchments resulting from reduction of the number and salary of 
officers of the United States or of the compensation of any person paid 
out of the U.S. Treasury. Accordingly, the Chair held out of order an 
amendment mandating the reduction of certain Federal salaries and 
expenses as not confined to a reduction of funds in the bill (June 17, 
1994, p. ----). Paragraph (b) also eliminated separate authority 
conferred upon legislative committees or commissions with proper 
jurisdiction to report amendments retrenching expenditures, and 
permitted legislative committees to recommend such retrenchments by 
reduction of amounts covered by the bill to the Appropriations Committee 
for discretionary inclusion in the reported bill. Paragraph (d) as added 
in the 98th Congress provides a new procedure for consideration of all 
retrenchment amendments only when reading of the bill has been completed 
and only if the Committee of the Whole does not adopt a motion to rise 
and report the bill back to the House. Other decisions which involved 
interpretation of the ``Holman Rule,'' but which do not reflect the 
current form or interpretation of that rule, are found in IV, 3846, 
3885-3892; VII, 1484, 1486-1492, 1498, 1500, 1515, 1563, 1564, 1569; 
June 1, 1892, p. 4920.




Sec. 844b. Content of reports on appropriation 
bills.

  3. A report  from the Committee on Appropriations accompanying any general 
appropriation bill making an appropriation for any purpose shall contain 
a concise statement describing fully the effect of any provision of the 
accompanying bill which directly or indirectly changes the application 
of existing law, and shall contain a list of all appropriations 
contained in the bill for any expenditure not previously authorized by 
law (except for classified intelligence or national security programs, 
projects, or activities).



  This clause 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), and the subsequent clauses of this rule were 
renumbered at that time. This clause was amended on January 14, 1975 (H. 
Res. 5, 94th Cong., p. 32) to confine its applicability to general 
appropriation bills, and again in the 104th Congress to add the last 
requirement concerning unauthorized items (sec. 215(d), H. Res. 6, Jan. 
4, 1995, p. ----).




Sec. 845. Restriction on the reference of 
claims.

  4. No bill  for the payment or adjudication of any private claim against 
the Government shall be referred, except by unanimous consent, to any 
other than the following committees, namely: To the Committee on 
International Relations or to the Committee on the Judiciary.



[[Page 652]]
War Claims, Public Lands, and Accounts, in addition to the Committees 
on Foreign Affairs (now International Relations) and the Judiciary. 
Certain private bills, resolutions and amendments are barred (Sec. 852). 
Under this clause unanimous consent is required for the reference of a 
bill for the payment of a private claim to a committee other than the 
Committee on the Judiciary or the Committee on International Relations 
(May 4, 1978, p. 12615).

  The present form of this clause was made effective January 2, 1947, as 
a part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812), was 
further amended on March 19, 1975 to reflect the change of the name of 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs to International Relations by H. Res. 
163 (p. 7343), was again amended on February 5, 1979 to change 
International Relations back to Foreign Affairs (H. Res. 89, pp. 1848-
49), and was once again amended on January 4, 1995, to change the name 
back to International Relations (sec. 202(b), H. Res. 6, 104th Cong., p. 
----). The old rule, adopted in 1885 and amended May 29, 1936, provided 
that private claims bills be referred to a Committee on Invalid 
Pensions, Claims, 




Sec. 846a. Restriction of power to report 
appropriations.

  5. (a) No  bill or joint resolution carrying appropriations shall 
be reported by any committee not having jurisdiction to report 
appropriations, nor shall an amendment proposing an appropriation be in 
order during the consideration of a bill or joint resolution reported by 
a committee not having that jurisdiction. A question of order on an 
appropriation in any such bill, joint resolution, or amendment thereto 
may be raised at any time.


  This portion of the rule was adopted June 1, 1920 (VII, 2133).


[[Page 653]]
amendment is not separately before the House during consideration of 
the special order (Feb. 24, 1993, p. ----).
  A point of order under this rule cannot be raised against a motion to 
suspend the rules (VIII, 3426), against a motion to discharge a 
nonappropriating committee from consideration of a bill carrying an 
appropriation (VII, 2144), or against a Senate amendment to an 
appropriation bill (VII, 1572), but it may be directed against an item 
of appropriation in a Senate bill (VII, 2136, 2147; July 30, 1957, pp. 
13056, 13181-82), and if the House deletes a provision in a Senate bill 
under this rule, the bill is messaged to the Senate with the deletion in 
the form of an amendment. The point of order may be made against an 
appropriation in a Senate bill that, although not reported in the House, 
is considered in lieu of a reported House ``companion bill'' (VII, 2137; 
Mar. 29, 1933, p. 988). This clause applies to an amendment proposed to 
a Senate amendment to a House bill not reported from the Committee on 
Appropriations (Oct. 1, 1980, pp. 28638-42). The rule does not apply to 
private bills since the committees having jurisdiction of bills for the 
payment of private claims may report bills making appropriations within 
the limits of their jurisdiction (VII, 2135; Dec. 12, 1924, p. 538). The 
point of order under this rule does not apply to an appropriation in a 
bill which has been taken away from a nonappropriating committee by a 
motion to discharge (VII, 1019a). The point of order under this rule 
does not apply to a special order reported from the Committee on Rules 
``self-executing'' the adoption in the House to a reported bill of an 
amendment containing an appropriation, since the 

  The provision in this clause that a point of order against an 
amendment containing an appropriation to a legislative bill may be made 
``at any time'' has been interpreted to require that the point of order 
be raised during the pendency of the amendment under the five-minute 
rule (Mar. 18, 1946, p. 2365; Apr. 28, 1975, pp. 12043-44), and a point 
of order will lie against an amendment during its pendency, even in its 
amended form, although the point of order is against the amendment as 
amended by a substitute and no point of order was raised against the 
substitute prior to its adoption (Apr. 23, 1975, p. 12043). But the 
point of order must be raised during the initial consideration of the 
bill or amendment under the five-minute rule, and a point of order 
against similar language permitted to remain in the House version and 
included in a conference report on a bill will not lie, since the only 
rule prohibiting such inclusion (clause 2 of rule XX) is limited to 
language originally contained in a Senate amendment where the House 
conferees have not been specifically authorized to agree thereto (May 1, 
1975, p. 12752). Where the House has adopted a resolution waiving points 
of order against certain appropriations in a legislative bill, a point 
of order may nevertheless be raised against an amendment to the bill 
containing an identical provision, since under this rule a point of 
order may be raised against the amendment ``at any time'' (Apr. 23, 
1975, p. 11512). A point of order against a direct appropriation in a 
bill initially reported from a legislative committee and then 
sequentially referred to and reported adversely by the Committee on 
Appropriations was conceded and sustained as in violation of this clause 
(Nov. 10, 1975, p. 35611).

  The point of order should be directed to the item of appropriation in 
the bill and not to the act of reporting the bill (VII, 2143), and 
cannot be directed to the entire bill (VII, 2142; Apr. 28, 1975, p. 
12043).


[[Page 654]]
priation or a portion of an appropriation already made for one purpose 
to another (VII, 2146; Mar. 29, 1933, p. 988; Aug. 10, 1988, p. 21719), 
or for one fiscal year to another (Mar. 26, 1992, p. ----), is not in 
order. An amendment expanding the definition in existing law of 
recipients under a federal subsidy program was held to permit a new use 
of funds already appropriated in violation of this clause (May 11, 1976, 
pp. 13409-11); and a provision in a legislative bill authorizing the 
use, without a subsequent appropriation, of funds directly appropriated 
by a previous statute for a new purpose constitutes an appropriation 
prohibited by this clause (Oct. 1, 1980, pp. 28637-40). But a 
modification of such a provision making payments for such new purposes 
``effective only to the extent and in such amounts as are provided in 
advance in appropriation acts'' does not violate this clause (Oct. 1, 
1980, pp. 28638-42). A direction to a departmental officer to pay a 
certain sum out of unexpended balances is equivalent to an appropriation 
and not in order (VII, 2154). Language authorizing the use of funds of 
the Shipping Board is not in order (VII, 2147). A direction to pay out 
of Indian trust funds is not in order (VII, 2149). A provision in an 
authorization bill making excess foreign currencies immediately 
available for a new purpose is in violation of clause 5 of rule XXI 
(Aug. 3, 1971, pp. 29109-10). Provisions authorizing the collection of 
fees or user charges by Federal agencies and making the revenues 
collected therefrom available without further appropriation have been 
ruled out in violation of this clause (June 17, 1937, pp. 5915-18; Mar. 
29, 1972, pp. 10749-51), and the transfer of existing federal funds into 
a new Treasury trust fund to be immediately available for a new purpose 
has been construed as an appropriation (June 20, 1974, pp. 20273-75), as 
has a provision in a legislative bill transferring unexpended balances 
of appropriations from an existing agency to a new agency created 
therein (Apr. 9, 1979, pp. 7774-75). A provision in an omnibus 
reconciliation bill reported by the Budget Committee (pursuant to 
section 310(c)(2) of the Budget Act upon recommendation from the Energy 
and Commerce Committee) making a direct appropriation to carry out a 
part of the Energy Security Act was ruled out in violation of this 
clause (Oct. 24, 1985, p. 28812). An amendment requiring the diversion 
of previously appropriated funds in lieu of the enactment of new budget 
authority if a maximum deficit amount under the Deficit Control Act of 
1985 is exceeded, though its stated purpose may be to avoid the 
sequestration of funds, may nevertheless be in violation of clause 5(a) 
as an appropriation on a legislative bill (Aug. 10, 1988, p. 21719).
  The point of order provided for in this clause is not applicable to 
propositions authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to use proceeds 
from the sale of bonds under the Second Liberty Bond Act (public debt 
transactions) for the purpose of making loans, since such loans do not 
constitute ``appropriations'' within the purview of the rule (June 28, 
1949, pp. 8536-38; Aug. 2, 1950, p. 11599), and is not applicable to 
language exempting loan guarantees in a legislative bill from statutory 
limitations on expenditures (July 16, 1974, p. 23344). Legislation 
authorizing the availability of certain loan receipts is not an 
appropriation where it can be shown that the actual availability of 
those receipts remains contingent upon subsequent enactment of an 
appropriation act (Sept. 10, 1975, p. 28300). The term ``appropriation'' 
in the rule means the payment of funds from the Treasury, and the words 
``warranted and make available for expenditure for payments'' are 
equivalent to ``is hereby appropriated'' and therefore not in order 
(VII, 2150). The words ``available until expended,'' making an 
appropriation already made for one year available for ensuing years, are 
not in order (VII, 2145). Language reappropriating, making available, or 
diverting an appro


[[Page 655]]
able only to the extent provided in appropriation Acts (see Sec. 1007, 
infra). See also Procedure, ch. 25, sec. 3, addressing appropriations on 
legislative bills generally.

  An amendment increasing the duties of a commission is not necessarily 
an appropriation (VII, 1578). Language authorizing payment from an 
appropriation to be made or authorizing payment from an appropriation 
that has not yet been made is in order (Jan. 31, 1923, p. 2794). Section 
401(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 317) prohibits 
consideration in the House of any bill or resolution or amendment which 
provides new spending authority (as that term is defined in that 
section) unless that measure also provides that such new spending 
authority is to be avail




Sec. 846b. Restriction on bills and amendments carrying 
taxes or tariffs.

  (b) No  bill or joint resolution carrying a tax or tariff 
measure shall be reported by any committee not having jurisdiction to 
report tax and tariff measures, nor shall an amendment in the House or 
proposed by the Senate carrying a tax or tariff measure be in order 
during the consideration of a bill or joint resolution reported by a 
committee not having that jurisdiction. A question of order on a tax or 
tariff measure in any such bill, joint resolution, or amendment thereto 
may be raised at any time.


  Paragraph (b) was added in the 98th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1983, 
p. 34). A point of order under this paragraph against a provision in a 
bill is in order at any time during consideration of the bill for 
amendment in Committee of the Whole (Aug. 1, 1986, p. 18649). On October 
4, 1989, the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, before ruling on 
several points of order under this paragraph, enunciated several 
guidelines to distinguish taxes and tariffs on the one hand and user or 
regulatory fees and other forms of revenue on the other (p. 23260). On 
the opening day of the 102d Congress Speaker Foley inserted in the 
Congressional Record a statement of jurisdictional concepts underlying 
those same distinctions and indicated his intention to exercise his 
referral authority under rule X in a manner consistent with this 
paragraph (Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----; see also Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----).


[[Page 656]]
nue collections and tax status or liability (Aug. 1, 1986, p. 18649). 
Similarly, in determining whether an amendment to a general 
appropriation bill proposing a change in IRS funding priorities 
constitutes a tax measure proscribed by clause 5(b), the Chair will 
consider argument as to whether the change would necessarily or 
inevitably result in a loss or gain in tax liability and in tax 
collection (June 18, 1991, p. ----).
  Although in the case of most points of order against provisions in 
bills or against amendments the burden is on the proponent of the 
provision to show that it does not violate the cited rule, in the case 
of a point of order under clause 5(b) against a provision in or an 
amendment to a general appropriation bill affecting the use of funds 
therein (otherwise traditionally in order if admissible under clause 2 
of rule XXI), the burden is on the Member making the point of order to 
show a necessary, certain, and inevitable change in revenue collections 
or tax statuses or liabilities (Sept. 12, 1984, pp. 25108, 25109, 25120; 
July 26, 1985, p. 20806; Aug. 1, 1986, pp. 18649-50; July 13, 1990, p. 
----; June 18, 1991, p. ----). Thus, in determining whether a limitation 
in a general appropriation bill constitutes a tax or tariff measure 
proscribed by clause 5(b), the Chair will consider argument as to 
whether the limitation effectively and inevitably changes reve

  A limitation on the use of funds contained in a general appropriation 
bill was held to violate clause 5(b) by denying the use of funds by the 
Customs Service to enforce duty-free entry laws with respect to certain 
imported commodities, thereby requiring the collection of revenues not 
otherwise provided for by law (Oct. 27, 1983, p. 29611). Similar rulings 
were issued: (1) where it was shown that the imposition of the 
restriction on IRS funding for the fiscal year would effectively and 
inevitably preclude the IRS from collecting revenues otherwise due and 
owing by law or require collection of revenue not legally due or owing 
(July 26, 1985, p. 20806; Aug. 1, 1986, pp. 18649, 18650); and (2) where 
a provision in a general appropriation bill prohibited the use of funds 
to impose or assess certain taxes due under specified portions of the 
Internal Revenue Code (July 13, 1990, p. ----). In the 98th Congress, 
the Chair sustained points of order under clause 5(b) against motions to 
concur in three Senate amendments to a general appropriation bill (not 
reported by the Committee on Ways and Means): (1) an amendment denying 
the use of funds in that or any other Act by the IRS to impose or assess 
any tax due under a designated provision of the Internal Revenue Code, 
thereby rendering the tax uncollectable through the use of any funds 
available to the agency (Sept. 12, 1984, p. 25108); (2) an amendment 
directing the Secretary of the Treasury to admit free of duty certain 
articles imported by a designated organization (Sept. 12, 1984, p. 
25109); and (3) an amendment to the Tariff Act of 1930 to expand the 
authority of the Customs Service to seize and use the proceeds from the 
sale of contraband imports to defray operational expenses, and to offset 
owed customs duties under one section of that law (Sept. 12, 1984, p. 
25120). An amendment to a general appropriation bill proposing to divert 
an increase in funding for the IRS from spot-checks to targeted audits 
was held not to constitute a tax within the meaning of clause 5(b) 
because it did not necessarily affect revenue collection levels or tax 
liabilities (June 18, 1991, p. ----).


[[Page 657]]
the following provisions in an omnibus budget reconciliation bill were 
ruled out: (1) a fee per passenger on cruise vessels, with revenues 
credited as proprietary receipts of the Coast Guard to be used for port 
safety, security, navigation, and antiterrorism activities (Oct. 4, 
1989, p. 23260); (2) a per acre ``ocean protection fee'' on oil and gas 
leaseholdings in the Outer Continental Shelf, with receipts to be used 
to offset costs of various ocean protection programs (Oct. 4, 1989, p. 
23261); (3) an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code relating to the 
tax deductibility of pension fund contributions (Oct. 4, 1989, p. 
23262); (4) a fee incident to termination of employee benefit plans, 
with receipts to be applied to enforcement and administration of plans 
remaining with the system (Oct. 4, 1989, p. 23262); and (5) a fee 
incident to the filing of various pension benefit plan reports required 
by law, with revenues to be transferred to the Department of Labor for 
the enforcement of that law (Oct. 5, 1989, p. 23328).
  In the 99th Congress, the following provisions in a reconciliation 
bill reported from the Budget Committee were ruled out as tax measures 
not reported from the Committee on Ways and Means: (1) containing a 
recommendation from the Committee on Education and Labor excluding 
certain interest on obligations from the Student Loan Marketing 
Association from application of the Internal Revenue Code, affecting 
interest deductions against income taxes (Oct. 24, 1985, pp. 28776, 
28827); and (2) containing a recommendation from the Committee on 
Merchant Marine and Fisheries expanding tax benefits available to 
shipowners through a capital construction fund (Oct. 24, 1985, pp. 
28802, 28827). In the 101st Congress, 


-
[[Page 658]]

  To a bill reported from the Committee on Education and Labor 
authorizing financial assistance to unemployed individuals for 
employment opportunities, an amendment providing instead for tax 
incentives to stimulate employment was held to be a tax measure in 
violation of this paragraph (Sept. 21, 1983, p. 25145). A provision in a 
bill reported from the Committee on Foreign Affairs imposing a uniform 
fee at ports of entry to be collected by the Customs Service as a 
condition of importation of a commodity was held to constitute a tariff 
within the meaning of this paragraph (June 4, 1985, p. 14009), as was an 
amendment to a bill reported from that committee amending the tariff 
schedules to deny ``most favored nation'' trade treatment to a certain 
nation (July 11, 1985, p. 18590). A provision in a general appropriation 
bill creating a new tariff classification was held to constitute a 
tariff under this paragraph (June 15, 1994, p. ----). A motion to concur 
in a Senate amendment constituting a tariff measure (imposing an import 
ban on certain dutiable goods) to a bill reported by a committee not 
having tariff jurisdiction was ruled out under this paragraph (Sept. 30, 
1988, p. 27316). A proposal to increase a fee incident to the filing of 
a securities registration statement, with the proceeds to be deposited 
in the general fund of the Treasury as offsetting receipts, was held to 
constitute a tax within the meaning of this paragraph because the amount 
of revenue derived and the manner of its deposit indicated a purpose to 
defray costs of government, generally (Oct. 23, 1990, p. ----). To a 
bill reported by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, an 
amendment increasing a user fee was ruled out as a tax measure where the 
fee overcollected to offset a reduction in another fee, thus attenuating 
the relationship between the amount of the fee and the cost of the 
government activity for which it was assessed (May 9, 1995, p. ----). To 
a bill reported by the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, an 
amendment proposing sundry changes in the Federal income tax by direct 
amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 was ruled out of order 
as carrying a tax measure in violation of this paragraph (Sept. 16, 
1992, p. ----).




Sec. 846c. Threefifths vote to increase income tax 
rates.

  (c) No  bill or joint resolution, amendment, or conference report 
carrying a Federal income tax rate increase shall be considered as 
passed or agreed to unless so determined by a vote of not less than 
three-fifths of the Members voting.



  Paragraph (c) was added in the 104th Congress (sec. 106(a), H. Res. 6, 
Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). On one occasion the Chair held that a provision 
repealing a ceiling on total tax liability attributable to a net capital 
gain was not subject to this paragraph (Apr. 5, 1995, p. ----). This 
paragraph does not apply to a concurrent resolution (Speaker Gingrich, 
May 18, 1995, p. ----).




Sec. 846d. Prohibition against retroactive income tax 
rate increase.

  (d) It  shall not be in order to consider any bill, joint 
resolution, amendment, or conference report carrying a retroactive 
Federal income tax rate increase. For purposes of this paragraph a 
Federal income tax rate increase is retroactive if it applies to a 
period beginning prior to the enactment of the provision.



  Paragraph (d) was added in the 104th Congress (sec. 106(b), H. Res. 6, 
Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).



[[Page 659]]



Sec. 847. Reappropriations 
prohibited.

  6. No general  appropriation bill or amendment thereto shall be received 
or considered if it contains a provision reappropriating unexpended 
balances of appropriations; except that this provision shall not apply 
to appropriations in continuation of appropriations for public works on 
which work has commenced, and shall not apply to transfers of unexpended 
balances within the department or agency for which they were originally 
appropriated, reported by the Committee on Appropriations.


  This provision from section 139(c) of the Legislative Reorganization 
Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812) was made part of the standing rules January 
3, 1953 (p. 24). Prior to the adoption of this rule in 1946, a 
reappropriation of an unexpended balance for an object authorized by law 
was in order on a general appropriation bill (IV, 3591, 3592; VII, 1156, 
1158). This clause was amended in the 99th Congress by section 228(b) of 
the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-
177, Dec. 12, 1985) to permit the Committee on Appropriations to report 
certain transfers of unexpended balances.

  A provision in a general appropriation bill, or an amendment thereto, 
providing that funds for a certain purpose are to be derived by 
continuing the availability of funds previously appropriated for a prior 
fiscal year is in violation of clause 6 of rule XXI (Aug. 20, 1951, pp. 
10393-94; Mar. 29, 1960, p. 6862; June 17, 1960, p. 13138; June 20, 
1973, pp. 20530-31; July 29, 1982, p. 18625; June 28, 1988, p. 16255), 
and a reappropriation of unexpended prior year balances prohibited by 
this clause is not in order under the guise of a ``Holman Rule'' 
exception to clause 2 of rule XXI (Oct. 18, 1966, pp. 27424-25). An 
amendment to a general appropriation bill making any appropriations 
which are available for the current fiscal year available for certain 
new purposes was held out of order under this clause since it was not 
confined to the funds in the bill and would permit reappropriation of 
unexpended balances (Oct. 1, 1975, p. 31090). That appropriations may be 
authorized in law for a specified object does not permit an amendment to 
a general appropriation bill to include legislative language mandating 
the reappropriation of funds from other Acts (July 28, 1992, p. ----).

  This rule, however, is not applicable when the reappropriation 
language is identical to legislative authorization language enacted 
subsequent to the adoption of the rule, since the law is a more recent 
expression of the will of the House (Sept. 5, 1961, p. 18133), nor when 
a measure transferring unobligated balances of previously appropriated 
funds contains legislative provisions and rules changes but no 
appropriation of new budget authority and is neither in the form of an 
appropriation bill nor the subject of a privileged report by the 
Committee on Appropriations under rule XI (Mar. 3, 1988, p. 3239).


  The return of an unexpended balance to the Treasury is in order (IV, 
3594).


[[Page 660]]
three calendar days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays).



Sec. 848. Printed hearings and reports on 
appropriation bills.

  7. No general  appropriation bill shall be considered in the 
House until printed committee hearings and a committee report thereon 
have been available for the Members of the House for at least 



  This provision from section 139(a) of the Legislative Reorganization 
Act of 1946 was made a part of the standing rules January 3, 1953 (p. 
24), and was amended (by the addition of the parenthetical clause) on 
January 22, 1971 (p. 144). In counting the ``three calendar days'' 
specified in the clause, the date the bill is filed or the date on which 
it is to be called up for consideration are counted, but not both (May 
26, 1969, pp. 13720-21). Clause 2(l)(6) of rule XI became applicable to 
all other reports from the Committee on Appropriations under the 
Committee Reform Amendments of 1974, effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 
988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470).




Sec. 848a. Reservation of points of order.

  8.  At the time 
any appropriation bill is reported, all points of order shall be 
considered as reserved.






[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
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[DOCID:hrmanual-106]

 
  Clause 8 was added in the 104th Congress (sec. 215(e), H. Res. 6, Jan. 
4, 1995, p. ----), rendering unnecessary the former practice that a 
Member reserve points of order when a general appropriation bill was 
referred to the calendar of the Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union, in order that provisions in violation of rule XXI 
could be stricken in the Committee of the Whole (see Sec. 835, supra).


                               Rule XXII.


            OF PETITIONS, MEMORIALS, BILLS, AND RESOLUTIONS.


[[Page 661]]
the official reporters of debates for publication in the Record.



Sec. 849a. Introduction and reference of 
petitions, memorials, and private bills.

  1. Members having  petitions or memorials or 
bills of a private nature to present may deliver them to the Clerk, 
endorsing their names and the reference or disposition to be made 
thereof; and said petitions and memorials and bills of a private nature, 
except such as, in the judgment of the Speaker, are of an obscene or 
insulting character, shall be entered on the Journal, with the names of 
the Members presenting them, and the Clerk shall furnish a transcript of 
such entry to 


  At the first organization of the House in 1789 the rules then adopted 
provided for the presentation of petitions to the House by the Speaker 
and Members, and for the introduction of bills by motion for leave. In 
1842 it was found necessary, in order to save time, to provide that 
petitions and memorials should be filed with the Clerk. In 1870, 1879, 
and 1887 the practice as to petitions was extended to private bills, at 
first as to certain classes and later so that all should be filed with 
the Clerk (IV, 3312, 3365; VII, 1024).



Sec. 849b. Duties of Speaker and Members 
in presenting petitions.

  Petitions, memorials,  and other papers addressed to the House may 
be presented by the Speaker as well as by a Member (IV, 3312). Petitions 
from the country at large are presented by the Speaker in the manner 
prescribed by the rule (III, 2030; IV, 3318; VII, 1025). A Member may 
present a petition from people of a State other than his own (IV, 3315, 
3316). The House itself may refer one portion of a petition to one 
committee and another portion to another committee (IV, 3359, 3360), but 
ordinarily the reference of a petition does not come before the House 
itself. A committee may receive a petition only through the House (IV, 
4557).




Sec. 850. As to division of bills for 
reference.

  The parliamentary  law provides that the House may commit a portion of a bill, 
or a part to one committee and part to another (V, 5558), yet under the 
practice of the House until January 3, 1975, a bill or joint resolution 
could not be divided for reference, although it might contain matters 
properly within the jurisdiction of several committees (IV, 4372, 4376). 
On that date, the Speaker was given authority over referral of bills as 
prescribed in clause 5 of rule X.





Sec. 851. Fraudulent introduction of a 
bill.

  The fraudulent  introduction of a bill involves a question of privilege, and a 
bill so introduced was ordered stricken from the files (IV, 3388). As 
the result of the unauthorized introduction of several bills without the 
knowledge of the Members listed as sponsors, the Speaker directed that 
all bills and resolutions must be signed by the prime sponsor thereof in 
order to be accepted for introduction (Speaker Albert, Feb. 3, 1972, p. 
2521).



[[Page 662]]
which suit may be instituted under the Tort Claims Procedure as 
provided in Title 28, United States Code, or for a pension (other than 
to carry out a provision of law or treaty stipulation); (2) the 
construction of a bridge across a navigable stream; or (3) the 
correction of a military or naval record, shall be received or 
considered in the House.


Sec. 852. Certain private and commemorative 
bills prohibited.

  2. (a) No private  bill or resolution (including so-called omnibus 
claims or pension bills), and no amendment to any bill or resolution, 
authorizing or directing (1) the payment of money for property damages, 
for personal injuries or death for 


  (b)(1) No bill or resolution, and no amendment to any bill or 
resolution, establishing or expressing any commemoration may be 
introduced or considered in the House.


  (2) For purposes of this paragraph, the term `commemoration' means any 
remembrance, celebration, or recognition for any purpose through the 
designation of a specified period of time.


  Paragraph (a) derives from section 131 of the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812) and was made a part of the 
standing rules January 3, 1953 (p. 24). The 104th Congress added the 
prohibition against commemorative legislation and directed the Committee 
on Government Reform and Oversight to consider alternative means for 
establishing commemorations, including the creation of an independent or 
Executive branch commission for such purpose, and to report to the House 
any recommendations thereon (sec. 216, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----
). The prohibition in paragraph (a) relating to correction of a miltary 
record does not apply to a private bill that changes the computation of 
retired pay for a former member of the armed services (after exhaustion 
of administrative remedies) but does not directly correct his military 
record (Sept. 18, 1984, p. 25824).


[[Page 663]]
erly referred in the manner originally presented; and an erroneous 
reference of a petition or private bill under this clause shall not 
confer jurisdiction upon the committee to consider or report the same.



Sec. 853. Correction of errors in reference; 
and relation to jurisdiction.

  3. Any petition  or memorial or bill or resolution 
excluded under this rule shall be returned to the Member from whom it 
was received; and petitions and private bills which have been 
inappropriately referred may, by the direction of the committee having 
possession of the same, be prop


  This clause of the rule was first adopted in 1880, although the 
portion relating to the return of certain petitions and bills was 
adapted from an older rule of 1842 (IV, 3312, 3365). In the 104th 
Congress it was amended to conform to the new prohibition against 
commemorative legislation (sec. 216, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).


  Errors in reference of petitions, memorials, or private bills are 
corrected at the Clerk's table, without action by the House, at the 
suggestion of the committee holding possession (IV, 4379). As provided 
in the rule, the erroneous reference of a private House bill does not 
confer jurisdiction, and a point of order is good when the bill comes up 
for consideration either in the House or in Committee of the Whole (IV, 
4382-4389). But in cases wherein the House itself refers a private House 
or Senate bill a point of order may not be raised as to jurisdiction 
(IV, 4390, 4391; VII, 2131). The Speaker may correct the erroneous 
referral of a bill as private by referring it to the appropriate (Union) 
calendar as a public bill when reported (June 1, 1988, p. 13184).


[[Page 664]]
bers may introduce jointly any bill, or resolution to which this 
paragraph applies.


Sec. 854. Introduction, reference, and change of 
reference of public bills, memorials, and resolutions.

  4. (a) All  other bills, 
memorials, and resolutions may, in like manner, be delivered, indorsed 
with the names of Members introducing them, to the Speaker, to be by him 
referred, and the titles and references thereof and of all bills, 
resolutions, and documents referred under the rules shall be entered on 
the Journal and printed in the Record of the next day, and correction in 
case of error of reference may be made by the House, without debate, in 
accordance with rule X on any day immediately after the reading of the 
Journal, by unanimous consent, or on motion of a committee claiming 
jurisdiction, or on the report of the committee to which the bill has 
been erroneously referred. Two or more Mem


  (b)(1) The name of any Member shall be added as a sponsor of any bill 
or resolution to which paragraph (a) applies, and shall appear as a 
sponsor in the next printing of that bill or resolution: Provided, That 
a request signed by such Member is submitted by the first sponsor to the 
Speaker (in the same manner as provided in paragraph (a)) no later than 
the day on which the last committee authorized to consider and report 
such bill or resolution reports it to the House.

  (2) The name of any Member listed as a sponsor of any such bill or 
resolution may be deleted by unanimous consent, but only at the request 
of such Member, and such deletion shall be indicated in the next 
printing of the bill or resolution (together with the date on which such 
name was deleted). Such consent may be granted no later than the day on 
which the last committee authorized to consider and report such bill or 
resolution reports it to the House: Provided, however, That the Speaker 
shall not entertain a request to delete the name of the first sponsor of 
any bill or resolution.

  (3) The addition of the name of any Member, or the deletion of any 
name by unanimous consent, of a sponsor of any such bill or resolution 
shall be entered on the Journal and printed in the Record of that day.


[[Page 665]]
as the first sponsor submits to the Speaker a written request that it 
be reprinted, and (B) if twenty or more Members have been added as 
sponsors of that bill or resolution since it was last printed.

  (4) Any such bill or resolution shall be reprinted (A) if the Member 
whose name is listed 

  The rule of 1789 provided that all bills should be introduced on 
report of a committee or by motion for leave. By various modifications 
it was first provided that all classes of private bills should be 
introduced by filing them with the Clerk, and in 1890 this system was by 
this rule extended to all public bills (IV, 3365).

  The motion for a change of reference and subsidiary motions take 
precedence over motions to go into the Committee of the Whole for the 
consideration of appropriation bills and the consideration of conference 
reports (VII, 2124), and may not be debated (VII, 2126-2128). But the 
motion is not in order on Calendar Wednesday (VII, 2117), and is not 
privileged under the rule if the original reference was not erroneous 
(VII, 2125). The motion may be amended, but the amendment, like the 
original motion, is subject to the requirement that it be authorized by 
the committee (VII, 2127). The motion must apply to a single bill and 
not to a class of bills (VII, 2125).

  According to the later practice the erroneous reference of a public 
bill, if it remain uncorrected, in effect gives jurisdiction to the 
committee receiving it (IV, 4365-4371; VII, 1489, 2108-2113; VIII, 
2312). And it is too late to move a change of reference after such 
committee has reported the bill (VII, 2110; VIII, 2312), but the Speaker 
may, pursuant to authority granted him by clause 5 of rule X effective 
January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), refer 
a bill sequentially to other committees. All bills and resolutions must 
be signed by the prime sponsor thereof (Speaker Albert, Feb. 3, 1972, p. 
2521).

  Joint sponsorship of public bills by not more than 25 Members was 
authorized by H. Res. 42, April 25, 1967. Prior thereto a special 
committee had reported against this practice and the report had been 
adopted by the House (VII, 1029). Effective January 3, 1979 (H. Res. 86, 
95th Cong., Oct. 10, 1978, p. 34929) clause 4(b) was added to allow 
unlimited co-sponsorship and to provide a mechanism for Members to add 
their names as co-sponsors to bills or resolutions which have already 
been introduced, up until the bill is finally reported from committee, 
and on January 15, 1979, the Speaker announced his directive for the 
processing of lists of co-sponsors pursuant to the new clause (Speaker 
O'Neill, Jan. 15, 1979, p. 19).


[[Page 666]]
add his own name as a co-sponsor of an unreported bill where the 
original sponsor is no longer a Member of the House (Aug. 4, 1983, p. 
23188), and a designated Member may be authorized to sign and submit 
lists of additional co-sponsors where the actual first sponsor is no 
longer a Member (June 23, 1989, p. 13271), but the Chair will not 
otherwise entertain a request to add co-sponsors by a Member other than 
the first sponsor, whether to include only himself (Mar. 5, 1991, p. --
--) or to include all Members (Dec. 18, 1985, p. 37765). The Chair will 
not entertain a unanimous consent request to list a Member as an 
additional original co-sponsor as of the date of original introduction 
where his name had been omitted by the original sponsor (Jan. 28, 1985, 
p. 1141; May 23, 1985, p. 13421). Unanimous consent requests to delete 
Members' names as co-sponsors are not entertained after the last 
committee authorized to consider the bill has reported to the House 
(Oct. 8, 1985, p. 26668), and the Speaker has vacated unanimous consent 
orders of the House to delete co-sponsors when advised that the bill had 
already been reported (Aug. 5, 1987, p. 22458). A Member may request 
unanimous consent that his name be deleted as a co-sponsor of an 
unreported bill during its consideration under suspension of the rules 
and prior to a final vote thereon (June 9, 1986, p. 12979). An order of 
the House that no organizational or legislative business be conducted on 
certain days (first by provision of a concurrent resolution, but 
extended by unanimous consent) was considered not to deprive Members of 
the privilege of introducing bills and resolutions during pro forma 
sessions on those days, such measures being numbered on the day 
introduced but not noted in the Record or referred to committee until 
the day on which business was resumed (H. Con. Res. 260, 102d Cong., 
Nov. 26, 1991, p. ----; see Jan. 22 and 28, 1992, pp. ---- and ----).
  Although paragraph (b)(2) of this clause only permits a co-sponsoring 
Member himself to request unanimous consent for his deletion as a co-
sponsor, the prime sponsor of a measure may be permitted to request 
unanimous consent to delete the name of a co-sponsor he has 
inadvertently or erroneously listed (Feb. 9, 1982). By unanimous consent 
a Member may 


  At its organization for the 104th Congress the House resolved that 
each of the first twenty bills and each of the first two joint 
resolutions introduced in the House in that Congress could have more 
than one Member reflected as a first sponsor (sec. 223(g), H. Res. 6, 
Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----); and the Speaker stated that all ``first'' 
sponsors' signatures would be required on the bills (Speaker Gingrich, 
Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). A Member was subsequently added as a ``first'' 
sponsor by unanimous consent (Jan. 18, 1995, p. ----).




Sec. 855. Resolution of inquiry.

  5. All resolutions  of 
inquiry addressed to the heads of executive departments shall be 
reported to the House within fourteen legislative days after 
presentation.



[[Page 667]]
a committee to report was extended from one week to fourteen 
legislative days in the 98th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1983, p. 34).
  The House has exercised the right, from its earliest days, to call on 
the President and heads of departments for information. The first rule 
on the subject was adopted in 1820 for the purpose of securing greater 
care and deliberation in the making of requests. The present form of 
rule, in its essential features, dates from 1879 (III, 1856), while the 
time period for 



Sec. 856. Forms of resolutions of inquiry and 
delivery thereof.

  Resolutions of  inquiry are usually simple rather than concurrent in 
form (III, 1875), and are never joint resolutions (III, 1860). A 
resolution authorizing a committee to request information has been 
treated as a resolution of inquiry (III, 1860). It has been considered 
proper to use the word ``request'' in asking for information from the 
President and ``direct'' in addressing the heads of departments (III, 
1856, footnote, 1895). It is usual for the House in calling on the 
President for information, especially with relation to foreign affairs, 
to use the qualifying clause ``if not incompatible with the public 
interest'' (II, 1547; III, 1896-1901; V, 5759; VI, 436). But in some 
instances the House has made its inquiries of the President without 
condition, and has even made the inquiry imperative (III, 1896-1901). 
Resolutions of inquiry are delivered under direction of the Clerk (III, 
1879) and are answered by subordinate officers of the Government either 
directly or through the President (III, 1908-1910).




Sec. 857. Privileged status of resolutions of 
inquiry.

  The practice of  the House gives to resolution of inquiry a privileged status. 
Thus, they are privileged for report and consideration at any time after 
their reference to a committee (III, 1870; VI, 413, 414), but not before 
(III, 1857), and are in order for consideration only on motion directed 
to be made by the committee reporting the same (VI, 413; VIII, 2310). 
They are privileged for consideration on ``Suspension days'' and took 
precedence of the former Consent Calendar (VI, 409) before its 
abolishment in the 104th Congress (H. Res. 168, June 20, 1995, p. ----), 
but are not in order on Calendar Wednesday (VII, 896-898). And only 
resolutions addressed to the President and the heads of the executive 
departments have the privilege (III, 1861-1864; VI, 406). To enjoy the 
privilege a resolution should call for facts rather than opinions (III, 
1872, 1873; VI, 413, 418-432; July 7, 1971, pp. 23810-11), should not 
require investigations (III, 1872-1874; VI, 422, 427, 429, 432), and 
should not present a preamble (III, 1877, 1878; VI, 422, 427); but if a 
resolution on its face calls for facts, the Chair will not investigate 
the probability of the existence of the facts called for (VI, 422). 
However, a resolution inquiring for such facts as would inevitably 
require the statement of an opinion to answer such inquiry is not 
privileged (Speaker Longworth, Feb. 11, 1926, p. 3805).



[[Page 668]]

  Questions of privilege (as distinguished from privileged questions) 
have sometimes arisen in cases wherein the head of a department has 
declined to respond to an inquiry and the House has desired to demand a 
further answer (III, 1891; VI, 435); but a demand for a more complete 
reply (III, 1892) or a proposition to investigate as to whether or not 
there has been a failure to respond may not be presented as involving 
the privileges of the House (III, 1893).



Sec. 858. Discharge of a committee from a 
resolution of inquiry.

  Committees are  required to report resolutions of inquiry back 
to the House within one week (now fourteen days) of the reference, and 
this time is construed to be legislative days (VIII, 3368; Speaker 
Rayburn, Feb. 9, 1950, p. 1755) exclusive of either the first or last 
day (III, 1858, 1859). If a committee refuses or neglects to report the 
resolution back, the House may reach the resolution only by a motion to 
discharge the committee (III, 1865). The ordinary motion to discharge a 
committee is not privileged (VIII, 2316); but the practice of the House 
has given privilege to the motion in cases of resolutions of inquiry 
(III, 1866-1870). And this motion to discharge is privileged at the end 
of the time period, though the resolution may have been delayed in 
reaching the committee (III, 1871). The motion to discharge is not 
debatable (III, 1868; VI, 415). However, if the motion is agreed to, the 
resolution is debatable under the hour rule unless the previous question 
is ordered (VI, 416, 417). If a committee reports a privileged 
resolution of inquiry, it may then be called up only by an authorized 
member of the reporting committee and not by another Member of the House 
(VI, 413; VIII, 2310). The Member calling up a privileged resolution of 
inquiry reported from committee is recognized to control one hour of 
debate and may move to lay the resolution on the table during that time 
(July 7, 1971, pp. 23807-10; Oct. 20, 1971, pp. 37055-57).





Sec. 859. Resolutions of inquiry as related to 
the Executive.

  The President  having failed to respond to a resolution of inquiry, 
the House respectfully reminded him of the fact (III, 1890). In 1796 the 
House declared that its constitutional requests of the Executive for 
information need not be accompanied by a statement of purposes (II, 
1509). As to the kind of information which may be required, especially 
as to the papers that may be demanded, there has been much discussion 
(III, 1700, 1738, 1888, 1902, 1903; VI, 402, 435). There have been 
several conflicts with the Executive (II, 1534, 1561; III, 1884, 1885-
1889, 1894) over demands for papers and information, especially when the 
resolutions have called for papers relating to foreign affairs (II, 
1509-1513, 1518, 1519).





Sec. 860. Introduction of bills, resolutions, or 
memorials by request.

  6. When a  bill, resolution, or memorial is introduced ``by 
request'', these words shall be entered upon the Journal and printed in 
the Record.


  This rule was adopted in 1888 (IV, 3366).







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[[Page 669]]

 
  It has never been the practice of the House to permit the names of the 
persons requesting the introduction of the bill to be printed in the 
Record. 


                               Rule XXIII.


                    OF COMMITTEES OF THE WHOLE HOUSE.




Sec. 861a. Selection of Chairman of Committee of the 
Whole; and his power to preserve order.

  1. (a) In  all cases, in forming a 
Committee of the Whole House, the Speaker shall leave his chair after 
appointing a Member as Chairman to preside, who shall, in case of 
disturbance or disorderly conduct in the galleries or lobby, have power 
to cause the same to be cleared.


  This provision, adopted in 1880, was made from two older rules dating 
from 1789 and modified in 1794 to provide for the appointment of the 
Chairman instead of the inconvenient method of election by the committee 
(IV, 4704). It was amended in the 103d Congress to permit Delegates and 
the Resident Commissioner to preside in the Committee of the Whole (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----), but that authority was repealed in the 
104th Congress (sec. 212(b), H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). 
Delegates presided in two instances during the 103d Congress (Oct. 6, 
1994, p. ----; Oct. 7, 1994, p. ----).


[[Page 670]]
case he reports in the regular way (IV, 4785; VIII, 2376; Aug. 22, 
1974, p. 30077); but if the committee happens to be in session at the 
hour fixed for the meeting of the House on a new legislative day, it 
rests with the committee and not with the Chairman to determine whether 
or not the committee shall rise (V, 6736, 6737).



Sec. 861b. Functions of the Chairman of the Committee of 
the Whole.

  The  Sergeant-at-Arms attends the sittings of the Committee of 
the Whole and, under direction of the Chairman, maintains order (I, 
257). His decisions on questions of order may be appealed; and in 
stating the appeal, the question is put as in the House: ``Shall the 
decision of the Chair stand as the judgment of the Committee?'' and a 
majority vote sustains the ruling (Aug. 1, 1989, p. 17159). In rare 
cases wherein the Chairman has been defied or insulted he has directed 
the committee to rise, left the chair and, on the chair being taken by 
the Speaker, has reported the facts to the House (II, 1350, 1651, 1653). 
While the Committee of the Whole does not control the Congressional 
Record, the Chairman may direct the exclusion of disorderly words spoken 
by a Member after he has been called to order (V, 6987), but may not 
determine the privileges of a Member under general ``leave to print'' 
(V, 6988). The Chairman decides questions of order arising in the 
committee independently of the Speaker (V, 6927, 6928), but has declined 
to consider a question that had arisen in the House just before the 
committee began to sit (IV, 4725, 4726) or a question that may arise in 
the House in the future (June 21, 1995, p. ----). He recognizes for 
debate (V, 5003); but like the Speaker is forbidden to recognize for 
requests to suspend the rule of admission to the floor (V, 7285). He may 
direct the committee to rise when the hour previously fixed for 
adjournment of the House arrives, or when the hour previously fixed by 
the House for consideration of other business arrives, in which 





Sec. 862. Speaker's declaration into Committee 
of the Whole pursuant to special order.

  (b) After the  House has adopted a special 
order of business resolution reported by the Committee on Rules 
providing for the consideration of a measure in the Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union, the Speaker may at any time 
within his discretion, when no question is pending before the House, 
declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union for the consideration of that measure without 
intervening motion, unless the resolution in question provides 
otherwise.


  Paragraph (b) was added in the 98th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1983, 
p. 34).


[[Page 671]]
tinue its business; but if a quorum does not appear, the Committee 
shall rise and the Chairman shall report the names of the absentees to 
the House. After the roll has been once called to establish a quorum 
during such day, the Chairman may not entertain a point of order that a 
quorum is not present unless the Committee is operating under the five-
minute rule and the Chairman has put the pending motion or proposition 
to a vote; and if the Chairman sustains a point of order that a quorum 
is not present after putting the question on such a motion or 
proposition, he may announce that following a regular quorum call 
conducted pursuant to the previous provisions of this clause, he will 
reduce to not less than five minutes the period of time within which a 
recorded vote on the pending question may be taken if such a vote is 
ordered. If, at any time during the conduct of any quorum call in a 
Committee of the Whole, the Chairman determines that a quorum is 
present, he may, in his discretion and subject to his prior 
announcement, declare that a quorum is constituted. Proceedings under 
the call shall then be considered as vacated, and the Committee shall 
not rise but shall continue its sitting and resume its business.



Sec. 863. Failure of a quorum in Committee of the 
Whole.

  2. (a) A  quorum of a Committee of the Whole shall consist of one hundred 
Members. The first time that a Committee of the Whole finds itself 
without a quorum during any day, the Chairman shall invoke the procedure 
for the call of the roll under clause 5 of rule XV, unless, in his 
discretion, he orders a call of the Committee to be taken by the 
procedure set forth in clause 1 or clause 2(b) of rule XV: Provided, 
That the Chairman may in his discretion refuse to entertain a point of 
order that a quorum is not present during general debate only. If on 
such call, a quorum shall appear, the Committee shall con



[[Page 672]]
2 was substantially changed to allow quorum calls only under the five-
minute rule where the Chairman has put the question on a pending 
proposition, after a quorum of the Committee of the Whole has been once 
established on that day. The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole must 
entertain a point of order of no quorum during the five-minute rule if a 
quorum has not yet been established in the Committee on the bill then 
pending (and the fact that a quorum of the Committee has previously been 
established on another bill on that day is irrelevant during 
consideration (Sept. 19, 1984, p. 26082). Where a recorded vote on a 
prior amendment or motion during the five-minute rule on that bill on 
that day has established a quorum, a subsequent point of no quorum 
during debate is precluded except by unanimous consent (May 10, 1984, p. 
11869; Dec. 17, 1985, p. 37469; June 25, 1986, p. 15551; June 3, 1992, 
p. ----).
  It was the early practice for the Committee of the Whole to rise on 
finding itself without a quorum (IV, 2977), and it was not until 1847 
that a rule was adopted. The rule was amended in 1880, again in 1890 
(which included the concept that a quorum in the Committee should be one 
hundred rather than a quorum of the House (IV, 2966)), and in 1971 (Jan. 
22, 1971, p. 144). On October 13, 1972 (H. Res. 1123, p. 36012) the rule 
was amended to reflect the installation of the electronic voting system 
in the House Chamber, and on January 4, 1977 (H. Res. 5, 95th Cong., pp. 
53-70) clause 

  The clause was amended again in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 
1979, pp. 7-16) to permit the Committee to continue its business 
following the appearance of a quorum so that the Speaker need not take 
the chair to receive the Committee's report of absentees as in previous 
practice, and to enable the Chairman to reduce to five minutes the 
period for a recorded vote immediately following a regular quorum call. 
A vote by division is not such intervening business as would preclude a 
five-minute vote under this clause (July 22, 1994, p. ----). In the 97th 
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, p. 98) the rule was amended to allow 
the Chairman the discretion whether or not to entertain a point of order 
of no quorum during general debate only.

  The last two sentences of the clause, permitting the Chair to vacate 
proceedings under the call in his discretion when a quorum appears, were 
added on April 9, 1974 (H. Res. 998, 93d Cong., pp. 10195-99). The 
Speaker interpreted the last two sentences of this clause to permit the 
Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to announce in advance, at the 
time that the absence of a quorum is ascertained, that he will vacate 
proceedings when a quorum appears, and to convert to a regular quorum 
call if a quorum does not appear at any time during the call (May 13, 
1974, pp. 14148-49).

  The Chair need not convert to a regular quorum call precisely at the 
expiration of 15 minutes if 100 Members have not responded on a 
``notice'' quorum call but may continue to exercise his discretion to 
vacate proceedings at any time during the entire period permitted for 
the conduct of the call by clause 5 of rule XV (July 17, 1974, p. 
23673).


[[Page 673]]

  Under the modern practice, when a Committee of the Whole finds itself 
without a quorum, the Chairman normally directs that Members record 
their presence by electronic device. The Chair may however, in his 
discretion, order that Members respond by the alternative procedures in 
clause 1 of rule XV (alphabetical call of the roll) or clause 2(b) of 
rule XV (clerk tellers) (for the use of clerk tellers for a ``notice'' 
quorum call in Committee of the Whole, see July 13, 1983, p. 18858). 

  Before the installation of the electronic system, a quorum in the 
Committee was established by a call of the roll. At one time the roll 
was called but once (IV, 2967); but in the later practice it was called 
twice as on other roll calls (VI, 668). Where the Committee has risen to 
report the absence of a quorum, it resumes its session by direction of 
the Speaker on the appearance of a quorum (IV, 2968; VI, 674). The 
quorum which must appear to permit the committee to continue its 
business is a quorum of the committee and not of the House (IV, 2970, 
2971) but if such quorum fails to appear, a quorum of the House is 
required (VI, 674). It was formerly held that after the committee has 
risen and reported its roll call, a motion to adjourn is in order before 
direction as to resumption of the session (IV, 2969), but under the 
later practice the committee immediately resumed its session without 
intervening motion or unanimous consent requests (VI, 672, 673; VIII, 
2377, 2379, 2436). The failure of a quorum of the House to answer on 
this roll call does not interfere with the authority of the Speaker to 
direct the committee to resume its session (IV, 2969). The Chairman's 
count of a quorum is not subject to verification by tellers (VIII, 2369, 
2436), may not be challenged by an appeal (July 24, 1974, p. 25012), and 
he may count those present and not voting in determining whether a 
quorum is present (VI, 641). On a division vote totaling less than 100, 
the Chair has relied on his immediately prior count on a point of no 
quorum and on his observation of several Members present but not voting 
on the division vote in finding the presence of a quorum of the 
Committee of the Whole (June 29, 1988, p. 16504). No quorum being 
present when a vote is taken in Committee of the Whole, and the 
committee having risen before a quorum appeared, such vote is invalid, 
and the question is put de novo when the committee resumes its business 
(VI, 676, 677). While an ``automatic'' roll call (under clause 4 of rule 
XV) is not in order in Committee of the Whole, a point of order of no 
quorum may intervene between the announcement of a division vote result 
and prior to transaction of further business, and a demand for a 
recorded vote following the quorum call is not thereby precluded (Oct. 
9, 1975, p. 32598). Where a recorded vote is refused but the Chair has 
not announced the result of a voice vote on an amendment, and the demand 
for a division or teller vote remains possible, the question remains 
pending and the Chair is obligated to entertain a point of order of no 
quorum under clause 2(a) of rule XXIII (June 6, 1979, p. 13648).


[[Page 674]]
2369) and takes precedence over a motion to amend (May 21, 1992, p. --
--); however the motion cannot interrupt a Member who has the floor 
(VIII, 2370-2371) and may be ruled out when dilatory (VIII, 2800). For a 
further discussion of the motion to rise, see Sec. 334, supra.


Sec. 864. Rising and reports of Committee of the 
Whole.

  The presence  of a quorum is not necessary for adoption of a motion that the 
Committee of the Whole rise (IV, 2975, 2976, 4914; clause 6(b) of rule 
XV; Mar. 5, 1980, pp. 4801-02; Oct. 3, 1985, p. 26096; May 21, 1992, p. 
----); but when the committee rises without a quorum, it may not report 
the bills it has acted on (IV, 2972, 2973), and such bills as have been 
laid aside to be reported remain in the committee until the next 
occasion, when the committee rises without question as to a quorum (IV, 
4913). A simple motion that the Committee of the Whole rise is 
privileged (VIII, 



  Under clause 6 of rule XV, as added in the 93d Congress (H. Res. 998, 
Apr. 9, 1974, p. 10199), a point of order of no quorum may not be 
entertained, on a day on which a quorum has been established, during the 
period after the Committee of the Whole has risen after completing its 
consideration of a bill or resolution and before the Chairman of the 
Committee has reported the bill or resolution back to the House. The 
fact that the vote whereby the committee rises does not show a quorum 
(IV, 4914) or that a point of no quorum has been made without an 
ascertainment thereof (IV, 2974), does not prevent a report of the bills 
already acted on. The Chairman having announced the absence of a quorum 
in Committee of the Whole, a motion to rise is in order and if a quorum 
develops on the vote by which the motion is rejected the roll is not 
called and the committee proceeds with its business (VIII, 2369). The 
passage of a bill by the House is not invalidated by the fact that the 
Committee of the Whole reported it on an erroneous supposition that a 
record vote had disclosed a quorum (IV, 2972).


  (b) In the Committee of the Whole, the Chair shall order a recorded 
vote on request supported by at least twenty-five Members.


-  (c) In the <> Committee of the Whole, the Chairman may, in his discretion, 
reduce to not less than five minutes the period of time within which a 
rollcall vote by electronic device may be taken without any intervening 
business or debate on any or all pending amendments after the vote has 
been taken on the first pending amendment.

  This clause was adopted in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 
1979, pp. 7-16).



[[Page 675]]

  This paragraph was added in the 102d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 
1991, p. ----). A vote by division is not such intervening business as 
would preclude a five-minute vote under this clause (July 22, 1994, p. 
----).



Sec. 864b. Former provision for de novo vote where Delegates 
decisive.

    When the 103d Congress enabled voting by the Delegates and 
the Resident Commissioner in the Committee of the Whole, it also added a 
paragraph (d) to clause 2 of rule XXIII to provide for immediate 
reconsideration in the House of questions resolved in the Committee of 
the Whole House on the state of the Union by a margin within which the 
votes of Delegates and the Resident Commissioner have been decisive (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----). When the 104th Congress repealed the 
authority for the Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to vote in the 
Committee of the Whole, it also repealed clause 2(d) (sec. 212(c), H. 
Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).



  Under the former paragraph (d), whether the votes cast by the 
delegates were decisive was determined by a ``but for'' test, the 
question being whether the result would have been different if their 
votes were not counted (May 19, 1993, p.----). An amendment adopted by 
immediate proceedings de novo in the House under the former paragraph 
(d) did not disturb the sequence of a ``king-of-the-hill'' procedure 
established by a special rule waiving all points of order against 
subsequent amendments (Mar. 17, 1994, p.----).




Sec. 865. Subjects requiring consideration in 
Committee of the Whole.

  3. All motions  or propositions involving a tax or charge upon 
the people, all proceedings touching appropriations of money, or bills 
making appropriations of money, or property, or requiring such 
appropriation to be made, or authorizing payments out of appropriations 
already made, or releasing any liability to the United States for money 
or property, or referring any claim to the Court of Claims, shall be 
first considered in a Committee of the Whole, and a point of order under 
this rule shall be good at any time before the consideration of a bill 
has commenced.



[[Page 676]]

  The first form of this rule was adopted in 1794, and it has been 
perfected by amendments in 1874 and 1896 (IV, 4792).



Sec. 866. Construction of the rule, requiring 
consideration in Committee of the Whole.

  To require  consideration in Committee 
of the Whole, a bill must show on its face that it falls within the 
requirements of the rule (IV, 4811-4817; VIII, 2391), but where the 
expenditure is a mere matter of speculation (IV, 4818-4821; VIII, 2388), 
or where the bill might involve a charge, but does not necessarily do so 
(IV, 4809, 4810), the rule does not apply. In passing upon the question 
as to whether a proposition involves a charge upon the Treasury, the 
Speaker is confined to the provisions of the text and may not take into 
consideration personal knowledge not directly deducible therefrom (VIII, 
2386, 2391). Resolutions reported by the Committee on House 
Administration (now House Oversight) appropriating from the contingent 
fund of the House are considered in the House (VIII, 2415, 2416). 
Authorizations of expenditures from the contingent fund, under the later 
ruling (IV, 4862-4867) do not fall within the specifications of the rule 
(IV, 4868). A bill providing for an expenditure which is to be borne 
otherwise than by the Government (IV, 4831; VIII, 2400), or relating to 
money in the Treasury in trust (IV, 4835, 4836, 4853; VIII, 2413), is 
not governed by the rule. But where a bill sets in motion a train of 
circumstances destined ultimately to involve certain expenditures, it 
must be considered in Committee of the Whole (IV, 4827; VIII, 2399), as 
must also bills ultimately authorizing officials in certain 
contingencies to part with property belonging to the United States 
(VIII, 2399). The requirements of the rule apply to amendments as well 
as to bills (IV, 4793, 4794; VIII, 2331), and also to any portion of a 
bill requiring an appropriation, even though it be merely incidental to 
the bill's main purpose (IV, 4825). Under the later practice general (as 
well as private and special) bills providing for the adjudication and 
payment of claims are held to be within the requirements of the rule 
(IV, 4856-4859).



[[Page 677]]
necessarily subject to the point of order that it must be considered in 
Committee of the Whole (IV, 4828, 4829; V, 5545, 5546, 5591).


Sec. 867. Subjects not requiring consideration in 
Committee of the Whole.

  The  House may consider in Committee of the Whole 
subjects not specified in the rule (IV, 4822); for example, major 
amendments to the rules of the House have been considered in Committee 
of the Whole pursuant to special orders (H. Res. 988, Committee Reform 
Amendments of 1974, considered in Committee of the Whole pursuant to H. 
Res. 1395, Sept. 30, 1974, p. 32953; H.R. 17654, Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1970, considered in Committee of the Whole 
pursuant to H. Res. 1093, July 13, 1970, p. 23901). While conference 
reports were formerly considered in Committee of the Whole, they may not 
be sent there on the suggestion of the point of order that they contain 
matter ordinarily requiring consideration therein (V, 6559-6561). When a 
bill is made a special order (IV, 3216-3224), or when unanimous consent 
is given for its consideration (IV, 4823; VIII, 2393), the effect is to 
discharge the Committee of the Whole and bring the bill before the House 
itself for its consideration (IV, 3216; VII, 788), and in such event the 
bill is considered ``in the House as in the Committee of the Whole'' 
(VIII, 2393). When a bill once considered in Committee of the Whole is 
recommitted, it is not, when again reported, 




Sec. 868. General practice as to consideration in 
Committee of the Whole.

  Provisions  placing liability jointly on the United States 
and the District of Columbia (IV, 4833), granting an easement on public 
lands or in streets belonging to the United States (IV, 4840-4842), 
dedicating public land to be forever used as a public park (IV, 4837, 
4838), providing site for statue (VIII, 2405), confirming grants of 
public lands (IV, 4843) and creating new offices (IV, 4824, 4846), have 
been held to require consideration in Committee of the Whole. Indian 
lands have not been considered ``property'' of the Government within the 
meaning of the rule (IV, 4844, 4845; VIII, 2413). And while a bill 
removing the rate of postage has been held to be within the rule as 
``involving a tax or charge'' (IV, 4861), taxes on bank circulation have 
not been so considered (IV, 4854, 4855).



  The mere making of a unanimous consent request to dispense with the 
reading of an amendment and to revise and extend remarks thereon is not 
such intervening business as would render a point of order untimely, 
where the Member making the point of order is on his feet seeking 
recognition (July 16, 1991, p. ----; see Procedure, ch. 31, sec. 5.7).




Sec. 869. Order of business in Committee of the 
Whole.

  4. In  Committees of the Whole House business on their calendars may 
be taken up in regular order, or in such order as the committee may 
determine, unless the bill to be considered was determined by the House 
at the time of going into committee, but bills for raising revenue, 
general appropriation bills, and bills for the improvement of rivers and 
harbors shall have precedence.


  This rule applies to the two committees of the whole which have been 
established by the practice of the House (IV, 4705), the Committee of 
the Whole House on the state of the Union, which considers public bills, 
and the Committee of the Whole House, which considers private business 
(IV, 3115). The early practice left the order of taking up bills to be 
determined entirely by the committee, but in 1844 the House began by 
rule to regulate the order, and in 1880 adopted the present rule (IV, 
4729). The latter portion of the rule is rarely used, since the ordinary 
practice is to consider general appropriation bills under clause 9 of 
rule XVI, which gives privilege to motions to go into committee to 
consider a designated bill of this class (IV, 3072).



[[Page 678]]
(IV, 4730) or a motion to take up a specified bill out of its order 
(IV, 4731, 4732; VIII, 2333). Except in cases wherein the rules make 
specific provisions therefor a motion is not in order in the House to 
fix the order in which business on the calendars of the Committee of the 
Whole shall be taken up (IV, 4733). The Committee of the Whole having 
voted to consider a particular bill, and consideration having begun, a 
motion to reconsider or change that vote is not in order (IV, 4765). 
When there is unfinished business in Committee of the Whole, it is 
usually first in order (IV, 4735; VIII, 2334).

-  5. (a) When <> general debate is closed by 
order of the House, any Member shall be allowed five minutes to explain 
any amendment he may offer, after which the Member who shall first 
obtain the floor shall be allowed to speak five minutes in opposition to 
it, and there shall be no further debate thereon, but the same privilege 
of debate shall be allowed in favor of and against any amendment that 
may be offered to an amendment; and neither an amendment nor an 
amendment to an amendment shall be withdrawn by the mover thereof unless 
by the unanimous consent of the committee. Upon the offering of any 
amendment by a Member, when the House is meeting in the Committee of the 
Whole, the Clerk shall promptly transmit to the majority committee table 
five copies of the amendment and five copies to the minority committee 
table. Further, the Clerk shall deliver at least one copy of the 
amendment to the majority cloak room and at least one copy to the 
minority cloak room.

  The power of the committee to determine the order of considering bills 
on its calendar is construed to authorize a motion to establish an order 


[[Page 679]]
of the Whole both as to the bill generally and also as to any 
amendment; but in 1841 the rule that no Member should speak more than an 
hour was applied both to the Committee of the Whole and the House. At 
the same time another rule was adopted to prevent indefinite 
prolongation of debate in Committee of the Whole by permitting the House 
by majority vote to order the discharge of the Committee of the Whole 
from the consideration of a bill after acting, without debate, on 
pending amendments and any other amendments that might be offered. The 
effect of this was to empower the House to close general debate at any 
time after it had actually begun in the committee; and thereby to 
require amendments to be voted on without debate. In 1847 a rule 
provided that any Member proposing an amendment should have five minutes 
in which to explain it, and in 1850 an amendment to the rule permitted 
also five minutes in opposition and guarded against abuse by forbidding 
the withdrawal of an amendment when once offered (V, 5221). In the 104th 
Congress the Speaker announced his intention to strictly enforce time 
limitations on debate (Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). The last two sentences of 
this clause, placing upon the Clerk the responsibility for providing 
copies of amendments, was part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 
1970 (sec. 124; 84 Stat. 1140) and was added to the rule in the 92d 
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). The fact that copies of an 
amendment have not been made available as required in this clause is not 
grounds for a point of order against the amendment (June 21, 1974, p. 
20609; Mar. 25, 1976, p. 7997).
  A rule of 1789 provided that bills should be read and debated in 
Committee of the Whole and in the House by clauses. Although that rule 
has disappeared, the practice continues in Committee of the Whole, 
although not in the House. Originally there was unlimited debate in 
Committee 


[[Page 680]]
time is present at the appropriate time during general debate in 
Committee of the Whole, the Chair may presume the time to have been 
yielded back (June 11, 1984, p. 15744). Motions for disposition of the 
bill are not in order before general debate is closed (IV, 4778); nor 
may a Member, in time yielded to him for general debate, move that the 
Committee rise (May 25, 1967, p. 14121) or yield to another for such 
motion (Feb. 22, 1950, p. 2178).-


Sec. 871. Motion to close general debate in 
Committee of the Whole.

  The motion  to close general debate in Committee of the 
Whole, successor in the practice to the motion to discharge provided by 
the rule of 1841, is made in the House pending the motion that the House 
resolve itself into committee, and not after the House has voted to go 
into committee (V, 5208); and though not debatable, the previous 
question is sometimes ordered on it to prevent amendment (V, 5203); and 
in case the previous question is ordered, the 40 minutes debate under 
clause 2 of rule XXVII is not allowed (VIII, 2555, 2690). General debate 
must have already begun in Committee of the Whole before the motion to 
limit it is in order in the House (V, 5204-5206). The motion may not 
apply to a series of bills (V, 5209) and the motion in the House to 
limit debate on a bill in the Committee of the Whole must apply to the 
whole and not to a part of a bill (V, 5207). A proposition for a 
division of time may not be made as a part of it (V, 5210, 5211). The 
motion may not be made in Committee of the Whole (V, 5217; VIII, 2548); 
but in absence of an order by the House the Committee of the Whole may 
be unanimous consent determine as to general debate (V, 5232; VIII, 
2553). Where the House has fixed the time the committee may not, even by 
unanimous consent, extend it (V, 5212-5216; VIII, 2321, 2550; Mar. 27, 
1984, p. 6599). The general debate must close before amendments may be 
offered (IV, 4744; V, 5221); and it is closed by the fact that no Member 
desires to participate further (IV, 4745). Where no member of a 
committee designated to control 



[[Page 681]]
ponent and an opponent, the five-minute rule is abrogated and the 
Members controllng the debate may yield and reserve time; whereas debate 
time on amendments under the five-minute rule cannot be reserved (Aug. 
1, 1990, p. ----). A Member recognized under the five-minute rule may 
not yield to another Member to offer an amendment (Dec. 12, 14, 1973, 
pp. 41171, 41716; Sept. 8, 1976, p. 29243; Mar. 7, 1995, p. ----).


Sec. 872. Reading and amendment under the 
fiveminute rule.

  The reading  of the bill for amendment is not specifically 
required by the present form of the rule; but is done under a practice 
which was originally instituted by the rule of 1789 and has continued, 
although the rule was eliminated, undoubtedly by inadvertence, in the 
codification of 1880 (V, 5221). Revenue, general appropriation, 
lighthouse, and river and harbor bills are generally read by paragraphs; 
other bills by sections (IV, 4738, 4740); and while the matter is very 
largely in the discretion of the Chair (VIII, 2341, 2344, 2346), the 
Committee of the Whole has overruled his decision (VIII, 2347). A bill 
(or the remainder of a bill) may be considered as having been read and 
open to amendment by unanimous consent but not by motion (June 18, 1976, 
p. 19296). A Senate amendment, however, is read in entirety, and not by 
either paragraphs or sections (V, 6194) and an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute offered from the floor must also be read in its entirety 
and is then open to amendment at any point, and a unanimous consent 
request in Committee of the Whole that it be read by sections for 
amendment is not in order (Mar. 25, 1975, p. 8490). The Committee of the 
Whole may not, even by unanimous consent, prohibit the offering of an 
amendment otherwise in order under the five-minute rule (July 31, 1984, 
p. 21701; Mar. 7, 1995, p. ----). When a paragraph or section has been 
passed it is not in order to return thereto (IV, 4742, 4743) except by 
unanimous consent (IV, 4746, 4747; Deschler's Precedents, vol. 8, ch. 
26, sec. 2.26) or when, the reading of the bill being concluded and a 
motion to rise being decided in the negative, the committee on motion 
votes to return (IV, 4748). Where a bill is considered as read and open 
to amendment at any point, adoption of an amendment adding a new section 
at the end of the bill does not preclude subsquent amendments to 
previous sections of the bill (Apr. 17, 1986, p. 7861). But the chairman 
may direct a return to a section whereon, by error, no action was had on 
a pending amendment (IV, 4750). Points of order against a paragraph 
should be made before the next paragraph is read (V, 6931; VIII, 2351). 
The paragraph or section having been read, and an amendment offered, the 
right to explain or oppose that amendment has precedence of a motion to 
amend it (IV, 4751). In this debate recognitions are governed by the 
conditions of the pending question rather than by the general relations 
of majority and minority (V, 5223). The Member recognized may not yield 
time (V, 5035-5037; May 8, 1987, p. 11832; Dec. 10, 1987, p. 34686) and 
must confine himself to the subject (V, 5240-5256; VIII, 2591). Where 
debate on an amendment is limited or allocated by special order to a pro


  Where the Chair recognizes the proponent of an amendment to propound a 
unanimous consent request to modify the text of the amendment before 
commencing debate thereon, the Chair does not charge time consumed under 
a reservation of objection against the proponent's time for debate on 
the amendment (Feb. 3, 1993, p. ----; May 27, 1993, p. ----).-



[[Page 682]]



Sec. 873a. Pro forma amendments under the fiveminute 
rule.

  The pro  forma amendment to ``strike out the last word'' has long been 
used for purposes of debate or explanation where an actual amendment is 
not contemplated (V, 5778; VIII, 2591); but a pro forma amendment must 
be voted on unless withdrawn (VIII, 2874). A Member who has occupied 
five minutes on a pro forma amendment may not lengthen this time by 
making another pro forma amendment (V, 5222; VIII, 2560), nor may he 
then extend this time by offering a substantive amendment while other 
Members are seeking recognition (July 28, 1965, p. 18631). A Member 
recognized to offer a pro forma amendment under the five-minute rule may 
not during that time offer a substantive amendment but must be 
separately recognized for that purpose by the Chair (Nov. 19, 1987, p. 
32880). A Member may speak in opposition to a pending amendment and 
subsequently offer a pro forma amendment and debate that (June 30, 1955, 
p. 9614); a Member may offer a pro forma amendment to debate a second 
degree amendment and then offer another pro forma amendment to debate 
the underlying first degree amendment (June 28, 1995, p. ----); and a 
Member who has debated a substantive amendment may thereafter rise in 
opposition to a pro forma amendment thereto (July 20, 1951, p. 8566). A 
Member who has offered a substantive amendment and then debated it for 
five minutes may not extend his time by offering a pro forma amendment, 
as it is not in order for the offeror of an amendment to amend his own 
amendment except by unanimous consent (Oct. 14, 1987, p. 27898). A pro 
forma amendment may be offered after a substitute has been adopted and 
before the vote on the amendment, as amended, by unanimous consent only, 
since the amendment has been amended in its entirety and no further 
amendments, including pro forma amendments, are in order (Oct. 18, 1983, 
p. 28185; June 28, 1995, p. ----). A Member recognized on a pro forma 
amendment may not allocate or reserve time, though he may in yielding 
indicate to the Chair when he intends to reclaim his time (May 19, 1987, 
p. 12811; July 13, 1994, p. ----). The Chair endeavors to alternate 
recognition to offer pro forma amendments between majority and minority 
Members (giving priority to committee members) rather than between sides 
of the question (Mar. 21, 1994, p. ----).





Sec. 873b. Motion to dispense with reading.

  (b) It  shall be 
in order to move in the Committee of the Whole to dispense with the 
reading of an amendment if the amendment has been printed in the bill as 
reported from a committee, or if any Member shall have caused the 
amendment to be printed in the Congressional Record, and to be submitted 
to the clerk, or to any responsible staff member designated by the 
Chairman, of the reporting committee or committees, at least one day 
prior to floor consideration, and said motion shall be decided without 
debate.



  Paragraph (b) was added in the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, 
pp. 98-113) to permit a motion to dispense with the reading of certain 
amendments in the Committee of the Whole.




Sec. 873c. Unfunded mandates.

  (c) In the  consideration of 
any measure for amendment in the Committee of the Whole containing any 
Federal mandate the direct costs of which exceed the threshold in 
section 424(a)(1) of the Unfunded Mandate[s] Reform Act of 1995, it 
shall always be in order, unless specifically waived by terms of a rule 
governing consideration of that measure, to move to strike such Federal 
mandate from the portion of the bill then open to amendment.



-
[[Page 683]]

  Paragraph (c) was added by the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(sec. 107(a), P.L. 104-4; 109 Stat. 63), to be 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 section 424(a)(1) cited in the rule is actually in part B to title 
IV of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 658c(a)(1)), as 
added by the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (sec. 101, P.L. 104-4; 
109 Stat. 50-60).


[[Page 684]]
ted for printing in that portion of the Record shall be given numerical 
designations in the order printed.



Sec. 874. Closing the fiveminute debate in 
Committee of the Whole.

  6. The committee  may, by the vote of a majority of the Members 
present, at any time after the five minutes' debate has begun upon 
proposed amendments to any section or paragraph of a bill, close all 
debate upon such section or paragraph or, at its election, upon the 
pending amendments only (which motion shall be decided without debate); 
but this shall not preclude further amendment, to be decided without 
debate. However, if debate is closed on any section or paragraph under 
this clause before there has been debate on any amendment which any 
Member shall have caused to be printed in the Congressional Record after 
the reporting of the bill by the committee but at least one day prior to 
floor consideration of such amendment, the Member who caused such 
amendment to be printed in the Record shall be given five minutes in 
which to explain such amendment, after which the first person to obtain 
the floor shall be given five minutes in opposition to it, and there 
shall be no further debate thereon; but such time for debate shall not 
be allowed when the offering of such amendment is dilatory. Material 
placed in the Record pursuant to this provision shall indicate the full 
text of the proposed amendment, the name of the proponent Member, the 
number of the bill to which it will be offered and the point in the bill 
or amendment thereto where the amendment is intended to be offered, and 
shall appear in a portion of the Record designated for that purpose. All 
amendments to a specified measure submit


  This clause was adopted in 1860, with amendment in 1880 and 1885 (V, 
5221, 5224). The second sentence of this clause, permitting ten minutes 
debate on an amendment which has been printed in the Record even though 
debate has been closed by the Committee of the Whole, was inserted in 
the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144) following the 
enactment of an identical provision in section 119 of the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140).

  The penultimate sentence of the clause, relating to the procedure for 
submitting and the printing of amendments under the clause, was added in 
the 93d Congress (H. Res. 1387, Nov. 25, 1974, p. 37270). The last 
sentence, relating to the numbering of printed amendments, was added in 
the 104th Congress (sec. 217, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

  The Speaker announced that amendments to be printed in the Record 
pursuant to this clause must be deposited in a separate box at the 
Rostrum or with the Official Reporters of Debates within 15 minutes 
following adjournment, and must bear the Member's original signature 
(Nov. 25, 1974, p. 37270). Printing an amendment in the Record under 
this clause permits debate notwithstanding a limitation of debate only 
if the amendment has been properly offered, and does not permit the 
offering of an amendment not otherwise in order under the rules (Apr. 
23, 1975, p. 11491); and the guaranteed five minutes may be claimed only 
if the offeror of the amendment is the Member who caused it to be 
printed under the rule (June 1, 1976, p. 16044; June 29, 1989, p. 13928; 
June 19, 1991, p.----). The guaranteed time applies to an amendment 
offered as a substitute for another amendment, rather than as a primary 
amendment, if offered in the precise form printed (June 26, 1979, p. 
16682), but where such a substitute amendment has not been printed in 
the Record it may not be debated unless time is yielded within the 
original 10 minutes (Dec. 10, 1987, p. 34710). Where a special order 
requires amendments to be printed in the Record to qualify during the 
consideration of a bill under the five-minute rule, but makes no 
designation concerning offerors, any printed amendment may be offered by 
any Member (Mar. 22, 1990, p. 5017); but only the Member causing the 
amendment to be printed is entitled to the time for debate guaranteed by 
this clause.


[[Page 685]]
may close the five-minute debate after it has begun (V, 5229, 5231), 
but rarely exercises this right. The motion to close debate, while not 
debatable (Apr. 23, 1975, p. 11534; June 5, 1975, p. 17187), may be 
amended (V, 5227; VIII, 2578). The closing of debate on the last section 
of a bill does not preclude debate on a substitute for the whole text 
(V, 5228). Where there is a time limitation on debate on a pending 
amendment in the nature of a substitute and all amendments thereto, but 
not on the underlying original text, debate on perfecting amendments to 
the original text proceeds under the five-minute rule absent another 
time limitation (Apr. 13, 1983, p. 8402). The motion may be ruled out 
when dilatory (V, 5734). Where five-minute debate has been limited to a 
certain number of minutes of debate without reference to a time certain, 
the time consumed by reading of amendments, quorum calls, points of 
order and votes is not taken from that remaining for debate (Oct. 3, 
1969, pp. 28459-60; Nov. 9, 1971, pp. 40060-61); but where debate has 
been limited to a time certain, such time comes out of the time 
remaining under the limitation and reduces the time which may be 
allocated to Members wishing to speak (May 6, 1970, p. 14452; Oct. 7, 
1976, pp. 26305-06). Where debate under the five-minute rule has been 
limited and equally divided, a Member allocated time may reserve a 
portion of his time or yield his time to another Member only by 
unanimous consent (Mar. 2, 1976, p. 4992; May 11, 1976, p. 13416; June 
14, 1977, p. 18833). A motion to limit debate on a pending amendment may 
neither allocate the time proposed to remain nor vary the order of 
recognition to close debate, though the Committee of the Whole may 
separately do either by unanimous consent (July 12, 1988, p. 17767). 
Under a limitation on debate the Chair may, in his discretion, either 
permit continued debate under the five-minute rule, or divide the 
remaining time among all those desiring to speak, or divide the 
remaining time between a proponent and an opponent to be yielded by them 
to other Members (May 25, 1982, p. 11672). Except as indicated in 
Sec. 762, supra, the manager of the bill, and not the proponent of the 
pending amendment, has the right to close debate on an amendment on 
which debate has been limited and allocated under the five-minute rule 
(July 16, 1981, p. 16043), even where he is also the proponent of a 
pending amendment to the amendment subject to the limitation (Mar. 16, 
1983, p. 5792). The Chair may also in his discretion give priority of 
recognition under a limitation to those Members seeking to offer 
amendments, over other Members standing at the time the limitation was 
agreed to (May 26, 1977, pp. 16950-52). Where the Committee of the Whole 
has limited debate time on a bill and all amendments thereto to a time 
certain several hours away, the Chair may in his discretion continue to 
proceed under the five-minute rule until he desires to allocate 
remaining time on possible amendments, and may then divide that time 
among proponents of anticipated amendments, and committee members 
opposing those amendments (July 16, 1981, p. 16044). The Chair has 
discretion to reallocate time originally allocated by unanimous consent 
in the Committee of the Whole (Mar. 16, 1995, p. ----). The Committee 

[[Page 686]]
of the Whole may, by motion, limit debate on a pending committee 
amendment in the nature of a substitute (considered as having been read 
as original text) and on all amendments thereto to a time certain, and 
may then, by subsequent unanimous consent requests or motions, 
separately limit debate on each perfecting amendment after it has been 
offered (Mar. 16, 1983, p. 5794). A time limitation imposed by the 
Committee of the Whole under this clause may be rescinded or modified 
only by unanimous consent (Sept. 17, 1975, p. 28904). While ordinarily 
the expiration of time for debate on a bill and all amendments thereto 
precludes debate on amendments offered thereafter (July 18, 1968, p. 
22110), debate on an amendment printed in the Record may nevertheless 
proceed for 10 minutes under this clause (Aug. 2, 1973, p. 27715). While 
the Committee of the Whole may limit debate on amendments, it may not 
restrict the offering of amendments in contravention of a special order 
adopted by the House (June 25, 1985, p. 17201).

  The motion to close debate is not in order until such debate has begun 
(V, 5225; VIII, 2567), which means after one speech of five minutes (V, 
5226; VIII, 2573). The motion to strike the enacting clause under clause 
7 of this rule is preferential to the motion to close debate (June 28, 
1995, p. ----; July 13, 1995, p. ----). Although any Member may move, or 
request unanimous consent, to limit debate under the five-minute rule, 
the manager of the bill has the prior right to recognition for such 
purpose (June 19, 1984, p. 17055). The House, as well as the Committee 
of the Whole, 




Sec. 875. The motion to strike out the enacting words of 
a bill.

  7. A  motion to strike out the enacting words of a bill shall have 
precedence of a motion to amend, and, if carried, shall be considered 
equivalent to its rejection. Whenever a bill is reported from a 
Committee of the Whole with an adverse recommendation and such 
recommendation is disagreed to by the House, the bill shall stand 
recommitted to the said committee without further action by the House, 
but before the question of concurrence is submitted it is in order to 
entertain a motion to refer the bill to any committee, with or without 
instructions, and when the same is again reported to the House it shall 
be referred to the Committee of the Whole without debate.



[[Page 687]]
merely of the fact that the motion was used most frequently in 
Committee of the Whole (V, 5326, 5332). The motion must be in writing 
and in the proper form (July 24, 1986, p. 17641; Aug. 15, 1986, p. 
22071; Sept. 12, 1986, p. 23178).
  The practice of rejecting a bill by striking out the enacting words 
dates from a time as early as 1812, but the first rule on the subject 
was not adopted until 1822. By amendments in 1860, 1870, and 1880 the 
rule has been brought into its present form (V, 5326). The rule before 
1880 applied in the House as well as in Committee of the Whole. In the 
revision of 1880 for the first time it was classified among the rules 
relating to the Committee of the Whole, but there is nothing to indicate 
that this change was intended to limit the scope of the motion. It was 
probably a recognition 



Sec. 876a. Practice as to use of the motion to 
strike out the enacting clause.

  The motion  may not be made until the first 
section of the bill has been read (V, 5327; VIII, 2619). Having 
precedence of a motion to amend, it may be offered while an amendment is 
pending (V, 5328-5331; VIII, 2622, 2624, 2627). The motion takes 
precedence over the motion to amend and therefore over the motion to 
rise and report at the end of the reading of a general appropriation 
bill for amendment under clause 2(d) of rule XXI (July 24, 1986, p. 
17641). The motion also takes precedence over a motion to limit debate 
on pending amendments (June 28, 1995, p. ----; July 13, 1995). Where a 
special order provides that a bill shall be open to amendment in 
Committee of the Whole, a motion to strike out the enacting words is in 
order (VII, 787); contra (IV, 3215), but after the stage of amendment 
has been passed the motion to strike out the enacting words is not in 
order (IV, 4782; VIII, 2368). Where a bill is being considered under a 
special order which permits only committee amendments and no amendments 
thereto, a motion that the committee rise and report with the 
recommendation that the enacting clause be stricken is not in order 
where no committee amendments are in fact offered (Apr. 16, 1970, p. 
12092).


  The motion is debatable as to the merits of the bill, but may not go 
beyond its provisions (V, 5336). The debate on the motion is, in 
Committee of the Whole, governed by the five-minute rule (V, 5333-5335; 
VIII, 2618, 2628-2631); only two five-minute speeches are in order (V, 
5335; VIII, 2629), and time may not be reserved (May 22, 1991, p. ----); 
thus where a Member recognized for five minutes in opposition to the 
motion yields back his time another Member may not claim the unused 
portion thereof (Mar. 3, 1988, p. 3241). Members of the committee 
managing the bill have priority in recognition for debate in opposition 
to the motion (May 5, 1988, p. 9955; June 26, 1991, p. ----). The motion 
is not debatable after the expiration of time for debate on the pending 
bill and all amendments thereto (July 9, 1965, p. 16280; July 19, 1973, 
p. 24961; June 19, 1975, p. 19785), but it is debatable where the 
limitation is only on an amendment in the nature of a substitute being 
read as an original bill for the purpose of amendment under a special 
order (June 20, 1975, p. 19966). For more concerning debate on the 
motion, see Deschler's Precedents, vol. 5, ch. 19, sec. 12.


[[Page 688]]
to a proposed amendment to the bill. But where a committee amendment in 
the nature of a substitute is being read for amendment as an original 
bill, pursuant to a special order, the adoption of amendments to the 
amendment in the nature of a substitute allows the re-offering of the 
motion (June 20, 1975, p. 19970). A point of order against the motion 
should be made before debate thereon has begun (V, 6902; VIII, 3442; May 
6, 1950, p. 6571), and when challenged the Member offering the motion 
must qualify as being opposed to the bill (Mar. 13, 1942, p. 2439; May 
6, 1950, p. 6571; June 14, 1979, p. 14995; Jan. 26, 1995, p. ----). When 
a bill is reported from the Committee of the Whole with the 
recommendation that the enacting words be stricken out, the motion to 
strike out is debatable (V, 5337-5340), but a motion to lay on the table 
is not in order (V, 5337). The previous question may be moved on the 
motion to concur without applying to further action on the bill (V, 
5342). When the House disagrees to the action of the committee in 
striking out the enacting words and does not refer it under the 
provisions of the rule, it goes back to the Committee of the Whole, 
where it becomes unfinished business (V, 5326, 5345, 5346; VIII, 2633). 
Notwithstanding that consideration of the pending bill was governed by a 
``modified closed rule'' permitting only specified amendments, pending 
the concurrence of the House with a recommendation of the Committee of 
the Whole that the enacting clause be stricken, the House could by 
instructions in a motion to refer under this clause direct the Committee 
of the Whole to consider additional germane amendments (Apr. 14, 1994, 
p. ----). When the enacting words of a bill are stricken out the bill is 
rejected (V, 5326); and when the enacting clause of a Senate measure is 
stricken, the bill is rejected (V, 5326), and the Senate is so informed 
(IV, 3423; VIII, 2638; June 20, 1946, p. 7211; Oct. 4, 1972, p. 33787).
  A second motion on the same legislative day to strike out the enacting 
clause is not entertained in the absence of any material modification of 
the bill (VIII, 2636), but the motion may be repeated on a subsequent 
legislative day without change in the bill (May 6, 1950, p. 6571). The 
rejection of a proposed amendment to the bill does not qualify as a 
modification of the bill (June 21, 1962, p. 11369), nor does the 
adoption of an amendment 


  When, on Calendar Wednesday, the House disagrees to the recommendation 
of the Committee of the Whole that the enacting words be stricken out, 
the House automatically resolves itself into Committee of the Whole for 
its further consideration (VII, 943). When the bill is thus again taken 
up in Committee of the Whole it is taken up as unfinished business and 
is open to amendment, and the motion to strike out the enacting words 
may be again offered (VIII, 2633).


[[Page 689]]
Whole to consider an amendment to a concurrent resolution on the 
budget, or any amendment to an amendment thereto, unless the concurrent 
resolution as amended by such amendment or amendments (a) would be 
mathematically consistent (except to the extent that the amendment 
involved is limited by the third sentence of this clause); and (b) would 
contain all the matter set forth in paragraphs (1) through (5) of 
section 301(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. It shall not be 
in order in the House or in a Committee of the Whole to consider an 
amendment to a concurrent resolution on the budget, or any amendment to 
an amendment thereto, which changes the amount of the appropriate level 
of the public debt set forth in the concurrent resolution as reported; 
except that the amendments to achieve mathematical consistency which are 
permitted under section 305(a)(6) of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 may include an amendment, offered by or at the direction of the 
Committee on the Budget, to adjust the amount of such level to reflect 
any changes made in the other figures contained in the resolution.



Sec. 876b. Reading concurrent resolution on budget 
for amendment.

  8. At the  conclusion of general debate in a Committee of the 
Whole on any concurrent resolution on the budget pursuant to section 
305(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the concurrent 
resolution shall be considered as having been read for amendment. It 
shall not be in order in the House or in a Committee of the 




[[Page 690]]

  The first sentence of this clause was added to the rules on January 4, 
1977 (H. Res. 5, 95th Cong., pp. 53-70). The second sentence was adopted 
in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16). In the 96th 
Congress the second sentence was amended further and the third sentence 
added by Public Law 96-78 (93 Stat. 589) and was originally intended to 
apply to concurrent resolutions on the budget for fiscal years beginning 
on or after October 1, 1980 (fiscal 1980). However, in the 96th Congress 
the provisions of that public law amending the rules of the House were 
made applicable to the third concurrent resolution on the budget for 
fiscal year 1980 as well as the first concurrent resolution on the 
budget for fiscal year 1981 (H. Res. 642, Apr. 23, 1980, pp. 8789-90).




Sec. 877. Application of rules of the House to the 
Committee of the Whole.

  9. The  rules of proceeding in the House shall be 
observed in Committees of the Whole House so far as they may be 
applicable.


  This clause was adopted in 1789 (IV, 4737).



Sec. 877a. Modification of special 
orders.

  Unanimous consent  requests may not be entertained in the Committee of the Whole 
by the Chair if their effect is to materially modify procedures required 
by a special rule or order adopted by the House. For example, the Chair 
has refused to entertain unanimous consent requests: (1) to permit a 
perfecting amendment to be offered to the underlying bill where a 
special rule permitted its consideration only as a perfecting amendment 
to a committee amendment (Aug. 2, 1977, p. 26161); (2) to permit a 
substitute to be read by sections for amendment where the special rule 
did not so provide (Dec. 12, 1973, p. 41153); (3) to extend the time 
limitation for consideration of amendments beyond that set by a special 
order requiring the Chair to put the question on the pending amendments 
at the expiration of certain hours of consideration (Apr. 10, 1986, p. 
7079; Oct. 30, 1991, p. ----); (4) to modify the terms of a special 
order permitting consideration of certain amendments only en bloc, in 
order to permit separate consideration of one of the amendments (Sept. 
11, 1986, p. 22871); (5) to change the control (Oct. 9, 1986, p. 29984) 
or duration (Aug. 1, 1989, p. 17143; Mar. 12, 1991, p. ----; Mar. 17, 
1993, p. ----) of general debate specified by the House; (6) to reduce 
below 15 minutes the minimum time for recorded votes in the Committee of 
the Whole (June 18, 1987, p. 16764), or to postpone certain recorded 
votes where a special order authorized the Chair to postpone requests 
for recorded votes on amendments (June 4, 1992, p. ----); (7) to alter 
the terms of a special rule providing that an amendment not be subject 
to amendment, by permitting a perfecting amendment thereto or a 
subsequent amendment changing an amendment already adopted (Nov. 18, 
1987, p. 32643; July 26, 1989, p. 16411); (8) to permit consideration of 
an amendment out of the order specified in a special rule (May 25, 1988, 
p. 12275; Oct. 31, 1991, p. ----; Nov. 19, 1993, p. ----); (9) to vary 
the terms of a ``modified closed'' rule to permit consideration of an 
additional amendment (July 28, 1988, p. 19491); (10) to permit another 
to offer an amendment vested in a specified Member by the special order 
(May 1, 1990, p. ----).



[[Page 691]]
ments to be considered in the Committee of the Whole and to restrict 
``en blocking'' authority granted in a rule (June 21, 1989, p. 12744).
  By unanimous consent the House has altered the terms of a special 
order, for example: (1) to make an additional amendment in order in the 
Committee of the Whole under a ``modified closed'' rule and to authorize 
a supplemental report from the Committee on Rules in lieu of the 
original report referred to in the special order (Speaker Wright, Aug. 
11, 1988, p. 22105), or to change the specified order of amendments in 
Committee (Oct. 3, 1990, p. ----); and (2) to establish a preprinting 
requirement for certain amend

  Unanimous consent requests have been entertained in Committee of the 
Whole: (1) to permit the modification of a designated amendment made in 
order by a special rule, once offered (Sept. 1, 1976, p. 28877; Nov. 19, 
1993, p. ----); (2) to permit a page reference to be included in a 
designated amendment made in order as printed where the printed 
amendment did not include that reference (Apr. 1, 1976, p. 9091); (3) to 
permit a supporter of an amendment to claim debate time allocated by 
special order to an opponent, where no opponent seeks recognition (May 
23, 1990, p. 11988); (4) to shorten the time set by special order for 
debate on a particular amendment (Aug. 1, 1990, p. ----; Mar. 29, 1995, 
p. ----); (5) to lengthen such time under terms of control congruent 
with those set by the order of the House (May 11, 1988, p. 10495; May 
21, 1991, p. ----; Mar. 22, 1995, p. ----; June 27, 1995, p. ----); (6) 
to permit en bloc consideration of several amendments under a ``modified 
closed'' special order providing for the sequential consideration of 
designated separate amendments (Aug. 10, 1994, p. ----); or (7) to 
permit one of two committees controlling time for general debate 
pursuant to a special order to yield control of its time to the other 
(Aug. 18, 1994, p. ----).





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 691-707]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-108]

 
  By unanimous consent the House may delegate to the Committee of the 
Whole authority to entertain unanimous consent requests to change 
procedures contained in an adopted special order (Aug. 11, 1986, p. 
20633).


                               Rule XXIV.


                           ORDER OF BUSINESS.



Sec. 878. The rule for the order of business in the House.

  1. The daily order of business shall be as follows:
   
First. Prayer by the Chaplain. l  Second. Reading and approval of the 
Journal, unless postponed pursuant to the provisions of clause 5(b)(1) 
of rule I.


  Third. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

  Fourth. Correction of reference of public bills.

  Fifth. Disposal of business on the Speaker's table.


[[Page 692]]

  Sixth. Unfinished business. 

  Seventh. The morning hour for the consideration of bills called up by 
committees.

  Eighth. Motions to go into Committee of the Whole House on the state 
of the Union.


  Ninth. Orders of the day.

  Originally the House had no rule prescribing an order of business, but 
certain simple usages were gradually established by practice before the 
first rule on the subject was adopted in 1811. The rule was amended 
frequently in an endeavor so to arrange the business as to give the 
House as large a freedom as possible in selecting for consideration and 
completing the consideration of the bills that it deems most important. 
The basic form of the rule has been in place since (IV, 3056). The 98th 
Congress made a conforming change to the second order of business 
relating to the postponement of the vote on approval of the Journal (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1983, p. 34). The 104th Congress added the present third 
order of business respecting the Pledge of Allegiance (sec. 218, H. Res. 
6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

  The Speaker does not entertain a point of no quorum before the prayer 
is offered (VI, 663). Under clause 6 of rule XV, a point of no quorum 
may not be entertained before or during the offering of prayer or unless 
a question is pending (see Sec. 774c, supra).


[[Page 693]]

<>   The privileged matters which may interrupt the order 
of business are as follows: l  (1) General appropriation bills (clause 9 
of rule XVI; IV, 3072). l  (2) Conference reports (clause 1(a) of rule 
XXVIII; V, 6443) and motions to discharge or instruct conferees (clause 
1(b) of rule XXVIII).


Sec. 879. Privileged interruptions of the order of 
business in the House.

  This rule  does not, however, bind the House to a daily 
routine, since the system of making certain important subjects 
privileged (see clause 4(a) of rule XI, clause 9 of rule XVI, and rule 
XXVIII) permits the interruption of the order of business by matters 
which, in fact, often supplant it entirely for days at a time. But on 
any day, when the order of business is interrupted by a privileged 
matter, the business in order goes on from the place of interruption 
(IV, 3070, 3071) unless the House adjourn. After an adjournment the 
House begins again at the beginning. While privileged matters may 
interrupt the order of business, they may do so only with the consent of 
a majority of the House, expressed as to appropriation bills by the vote 
on going into Committee of the Whole to consider such bills, and as to 
matters like conference reports, questions of privilege, etc., by 
raising and voting on the question of consideration. The only exceptions 
to the principle that a majority may prevent interruption is contained 
in clauses 6 and 7 of rule XXIV, providing for a call of the private 
calendar on the first Tuesday of each month and a call of committees on 
Wednesdays. By this combination of an order of business with privileged 
interruptions the House is enabled to give precedence to its most 
important business without at the same time losing the power by majority 
vote to go to any other bills on its calendars.


  (3) Special orders reported by the Committee on Rules for 
consideration by the House (clause 4(b) of rule XI; IV, 3070-3076, 
4621).

  (4) Consideration of amendments between the Houses after disagreement 
(IV, 3149, 3150).

  (5) Questions of privilege (rule IX; III, 2521).

  (6) Privileged bills reported under the right to report at any time 
(clause 4(a) of rule XI; IV, 3142-3144, 4621; clause 5 of rule XXII).

  (7) Call of committees on Wednesdays for bills on House and Union 
Calendars (clause 7 of rule XXIV).

  (8) Private business on Tuesday (clause 6 of rule XXIV).

  (9) Motions on the second and fourth Mondays of the month to discharge 
committees on public bills and resolutions (clause 3 of rule XXVII), and 
consideration of District of Columbia business (clause 8 of rule XXIV; 
IV, 3304).

  (10) Consideration of bills on the former Consent Calendar (clause 4 
of rule XIII), and motions to suspend the rules and pass bills out of 
the regular order (clause 1 of rule XXVII; V, 6790).

  (11) Bills coming over from a previous day with the previous question 
ordered (V, 5510-5517).

  (12) Bills returned with the objections of the President (IV, 3534-
3536).

  (13) Motions to send a bill to conference (under clause 1 of rule XX; 
Aug. 1, 1972, p. 26153).

  In addition to these matters, the House by practice permits its order 
of business to be interrupted, at the discretion of the Speaker, for the 
reception of messages (V, 6602). Addressing the House out of order by 
unanimous consent, the Speaker announced that on at least two subsequent 
days he would recognize designated Members after approval of the Journal 
to lead the House in the pledge of allegiance to the flag (Speaker 
Wright, Sept. 9, 1988, p. 23310). Requests of Members for leaves of 
absence are in practice put before the House at the time of adjournment 
(IV, 3151).


[[Page 694]]
suspend the order of business temporarily (IV, 3059). Therefore any 
Member, including the Speaker, may object, or reserve the right to 
object and inquire, for example, about the reasons for the request, or 
demand the ``regular order'' (IV, 3058). Debate under a reservation of 
objection proceeds at the sufferance of the House and may not continue 
after a demand for the regular order (Speaker Foley, Nov. 14, 1991, p. 
----). A Member objecting to a unanimous consent request or demanding 
the regular order when another has reserved the right to object must 
stand to be observed by the Chair (Nov. 7, 1991, p. ----; June 23, 1992, 
p. ----). The Speaker, however, usually signifies his objection by 
declining to put the request of the Member, thus saving the time of the 
House. The Speaker's guidelines for recognition for unanimous consent 
requests for consideration of unreported measures are issued pursuant to 
clause 2 of rule XIV and are discussed in Sec. 757, supra. The request 
for unanimous consent began to be used about 1832 when the House first 
felt a pressure of business and the necessity of adhering to a fixed 
order (IV, 3155-3159). In 1909, by the adoption of clause 4 of rule 
XIII, a Consent Calendar was established, which was abolished in the 
104th Congress (H. Res. 168, June 20, 1995, p. ----). For discussion of 
unanimous consent requests and reservations of objections, see 
Procedure, ch. 23, sec. 2, and Sec. 757, supra. Unanimous consent for 
the immediate consideration of a measure in the House does not preclude 
a demand for a record vote when the Chair puts the question on final 
passage, since it merely permits consideration of a matter not otherwise 
privileged (Dec. 16, 1987, p. 35816).

<>   2. 
Business on the Speaker's table shall be disposed of as follows:    
Messages from the President shall be referred to the appropriate 
committees without debate. Reports and communications from heads of 
departments, and other communications addressed to the House, and bills, 
resolutions, and messages from the Senate may be referred to the 
appropriate committees in the same manner and with the same right of 
correction as public bills presented by Members; but House bills with 
Senate amendments which do not require consideration in a Committee of 
the Whole may be at once disposed of as the House may determine, as may 
also Senate bills sub

[[Page 695]]
stantially the same as House bills already favorably reported by a 
committee of the House, and not required to be considered in Committee 
of the Whole, be disposed of in the same manner on motion directed to be 
made by such committee.



Sec. 881. The interruption of the order of business 
by the request for unanimous consent.

  When the  House has no rule establishing 
an order of business, as at the beginning of a session before the 
adoption of rules, it is in order for any Member who is recognized by 
the Chair to offer a proposition relating to the order of business 
without asking consent of the House (IV, 3060). But after the adoption 
of the rule for the order of business, interruptions are confined to 
matters privileged to interrupt or to cases wherein the House gives 
unanimous consent for an interruption. A request for unanimous consent 
to consider a bill is in effect a request to 


  A rule to govern disposition of business on the Speaker's table (to be 
distinguished from the table of the House, which is the Clerk's table) 
was adopted in 1832. In 1880 and 1885 efforts were made to so modify the 
rule as to prevent delays in business on the Speaker's table, but it was 
not until 1890 that the present rule was adopted (IV, 3089).


[[Page 696]]
of Senate amendments at the Speaker's table (Apr. 26, 1984, p. 10194; 
Feb. 4, 1987, p. 2676) discussed in Sec. 757, supra. A Senate bill to 
come before the House directly from the table must conform to the 
conditions prescribed by the rule (IV, 3098, 3099; VI, 727, 734, 737), 
and must have come to the House after and not before the House bill 
``substantially the same'' has been placed on the House Calendar (IV, 
3096; VI, 727, 736, 738). In the event the House bill has passed before 
the Senate bill is received, the Senate bill may nevertheless be 
disposed of on motion directed by the committee (VI, 734, 735). The 
House bill must be correctly on the House Calendar (VI, 736). In 
determining whether the House bill is substantially the same as the 
Senate bill, amendments recommended by the House committee must be 
considered (VI, 734, 736). The rule applies to private as well as to 
public Senate bills (IV, 3101), and to concurrent resolutions as well as 
to bills (IV, 3097). Although a committee must authorize the calling up 
of the Senate bill (VI, 739), the actual motion need not be made by one 
of the committee (IV, 3100). The authority of a committee to call up a 
bill must be given at a formal meeting of the committee (VIII, 2211, 
2212, 2222).


Sec. 883. Matters on Speaker's table for action by the 
House or by the Speaker alone.

  Such  portions of messages from the Senate as 
require action by the House, all messages from the President except 
those transmitting his objections to bills (IV, 3534-3536), and all 
communications and reports from the heads of departments go to the 
Speaker's table when received, to be disposed of under this rule. Simple 
resolutions of the Senate that do not require any action by the House 
are not referred (VII, 1048). All of the President's messages and such 
portions of Senate messages as, being House bills with Senate 
amendments, do not require consideration in Committee of the Whole are 
laid before the House for action; but communications other than messages 
from the President, all portions of Senate messages requiring 
consideration in Committee of the Whole (IV, 3101), and Senate bills of 
all kinds (with the exception noted in the rule) are referred to the 
appropriate standing committees under direction of the Speaker without 
action by the House (IV, 3107, 3111; VI, 727). A House bill returned 
with Senate amendments involving a new matter of appropriation, whether 
with or without a request for a conference, may be referred directly to 
a standing committee (VI, 731), and on being reported therefrom is 
referred directly to the Committee of the Whole (IV, 3094, 3095, 3108-
3110). The usual practice, however, is to take from the Speaker's table 
and send to conference by unanimous consent (VI, 732). The Speaker's 
authority under this clause includes the discretionary authority to 
refer from the Speaker's table Senate amendments to House passed bills, 
to standing committees, under any conditions permitted under clause 5 of 
rule X for referral of introduced bills; he may for example impose a 
time limitation for consideration only of a portion of the Senate 
amendment, not germane to the original House bill, by the standing 
committee with subject-matter jurisdiction, without referring the 
remainder of the Senate amendment to the House committee with 
jurisdiction over the original House bill (Speaker O'Neill, H.R. 31, 
Mar. 26, 1981, p. 5397). The Speaker announced his policy regarding 
referral of nongermane Senate amendments to committee (Jan. 3, 1983, p. 
54; Jan. 6, 1987, p. 21); and his policy regarding recognition for 
unanimous consent requests to dispose 





Sec. 884. Reference of President's messages from the 
Speaker's table.

  A  message of the President on the Speaker's table is 
regularly laid before the House only at the time prescribed by the order 
of business (V, 6635-6638). While it is always read in full and entered 
on the Journal and the Congressional Record (V, 6963), the accompanying 
documents are not read on demand of a Member or entered in the Journal 
or Record (V, 5267-5271; VII, 1108). The annual message of the President 
is usually referred to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
the Union by the House on motion (V, 6631). In the earlier practice it 
was distributed to appropriate standing committees by resolutions 
reported from the Committee on Ways and Means (V, 6621, 6622) but since 
the first session of the 64th Congress the practice has been 
discontinued (VIII, 3350). A portion of the annual message has been 
referred directly to a select committee (V, 6628). A message other than 
an annual message is usually referred directly to a standing committee 
by direction of the Speaker (IV, 4053; VIII, 3346), but may be referred 
by the House itself on motion by a Member (V, 6631; VIII, 3348), and 
such motion is privileged (VIII, 3348). This reference may be to a 
select as well as to a standing committee (V, 6633, 6634).



[[Page 697]]
after until disposed of, and the consideration of all other unfinished 
business shall be resumed whenever the class of business to which it 
belongs shall be in order under the rules.



Sec. 885. Unfinished business.

  3. The  consideration of the 
unfinished business in which the House may be engaged at an adjournment, 
except business in the morning hour, shall be resumed as soon as the 
business on the Speaker's table is finished, and at the same time each 
day there


  The first rule relating to unfinished business was adopted in 1794. 
Changes were made in 1860 and 1880, but the rule finally became 
unsatisfactory, because of delays caused by it, and in 1890 the present 
form was adopted (IV, 3112).



Sec. 886. Construction of rule as to unfinished 
business.

  The ``business  in which the House may be engaged at an adjournment'' means, 
literally, business in the House, as distinguished from the Committee of 
the Whole; and it further means business in which the House is engaged 
in its general legislative time, as distinguished from the special 
periods set aside for classes of business, like the morning hour for 
calls of committee, Tuesdays for private bills, etc. In general, all 
business unfinished in the general legislative time goes over as 
unfinished business under the rule, but there are a few exceptions. 
Thus, a motion relating to the order of business does not recur as 
unfinished business on a succeeding day, even though the yeas and nays 
may have been ordered on it (IV, 3114). The question of consideration, 
also, when not disposed of at an adjournment, does not recur as 
unfinished business on a succeeding day (V, 4947, 4948), but may be 
again raised on a subsequent day when the matter is again called up as 
unfinished business (VIII, 2438). 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 day, and debate resumes from the point where interrupted 
(Sept. 27, 1993, p. ----; Sept. 28, 1993, p. ----).



[[Page 698]]



Sec. 887. Effect of previous question.

  When the  House 
adjourns before voting on a proposition on which the previous question 
has been ordered, either directly or by the terms of a special order 
(IV, 3185), the matter comes up the next day as unfinished business (V, 
5510-5517; VIII, 2691; Aug. 2, 1989, p. 18187). If several bills come 
over in this situation, they have precedence in the order in which the 
several motions for the previous question were made (V, 5518). When the 
previous question is ordered on a bill undisposed of at adjournment on 
Friday, the bill comes up for disposition on the next legislative day 
(VIII, 2694). A bill going over from Calendar Wednesday with the 
previous question ordered on it should be disposed of on the next 
legislative day (VII, 967), but when the previous question is ordered on 
a bill undisposed of when the House adjourns Tuesday, the bill goes over 
until Thursday (VII, 890-894; VIII, 2674, 2691). A bill coming over from 
a preceding day with the previous question ordered was of equal 
privilege with business on the former Consent Calendar (VII, 990).




Sec. 888. Business unfinished in periods set apart 
for classes of business.

  The rule  excepts by its terms certain classes of 
business which are considered in periods set apart for classes of 
business, viz: l  (a) Bills considered in the morning hour and on 
Calendar Wednesday for the call of committees. l  (b) Bills in Committee 
of the Whole.


  (c) Private bills considered on Tuesdays.

  (d) District of Columbia bills.

  (e) Bills brought up under the rule setting apart days for motions to 
suspend the rules, the Corrections Calendar, motions to discharge 
committees, and bills under consideration after a committee has been 
discharged.

  A bill brought up in the morning hour and undisposed of when the call 
ceases for the day remains as unfinished business in the morning hour 
(IV, 3113, 3120), i.e., it is considered when the House next goes to a 
call of committees. Business unfinished when the Committee of the Whole 
rises remains unfinished, to be considered first in order when the House 
next goes into Committee of the Whole to consider that business (IV, 
4735, 4736). Private bills unfinished on a Tuesday go over to the next 
Tuesday, and must be considered before the motion to go into Committee 
of the Whole House to consider other private bills. But when public 
business is considered on a Tuesday the unfinished business goes over 
until the next legislative day.


  On District of Columbia day business unfinished on the preceding 
District day is in order for consideration, but does not come before the 
House unless called up (IV, 3307; VII, 879). Unless postponed under 
clause 5 of rule I, a motion to suspend the rules on which a second has 
been ordered, and which is undisposed of on one suspension day, goes 
over as unfinished business to the next suspension day, individual 
motions going over to a committee day, and vice versa (V, 6814-6816; 
VII, 1005; VIII, 3411, 3412). Where the second has not been ordered, 
there is doubt as to whether or not the motion goes over as unfinished 
business (V, 6817, 6818).


[[Page 699]]
sideration: Provided, That whenever any committee shall have occupied 
the morning hour on two days, it shall not be in order to call up any 
other bill until the other committees have been called in their turn.



Sec. 889. The morning hour for the call of 
committees.

  4. After the  unfinished business has been disposed of, the Speaker 
shall call each standing committee in regular order, and then select 
committees, and each committee when named may call up for consideration 
any bill reported by it on a previous day and on the House Calendar, and 
if the Speaker shall not complete the call of the Committees before the 
House passes to other business, he shall resume the next call where he 
left off, giving preference to the last bill under con


  The ``morning hour'' is one of the oldest devices of the rules for 
devoting an early portion of the session to a specific class of 
business. Until 1885 it was the hour for the reception of reports from 
committees. In 1890 it was provided that reports should be filed with 
the clerk, and the morning hour was by this rule devoted to a call of 
committees for the consideration of House Calendar bills (IV, 3181). 
Since the adoption of the Calendar Wednesday rule (clause 7 of rule 
XXIV), the ``morning hour'' has been used but a very few times.



[[Page 700]]



Sec. 890. Procedure in the morning 
hour.

  Originally the  morning hour was a fixed period of sixty minutes (IV, 3118); but 
under the present rules (clause 4 of rule XXIV) it does not terminate 
until the call is exhausted or until the House adjourns (IV, 3119), 
unless the House on motion made at the end of sixty minutes votes to go 
into Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union (clause 5 of 
rule XXIV; IV, 3134), or unless other privileged matter intervenes (IV, 
3131, 3132). Before the expiration of the sixty minutes the Speaker has 
declined to permit the call to be interrupted by a privileged report 
(IV, 3132) or by unanimous consent (IV, 3130). Where the business for 
which the call is interrupted is concluded, the call is resumed unless 
there be other interrupting business or the House adjourns (IV, 3133). A 
bill once brought up on the call continues before the House in that 
order of business until disposed of (IV, 3120), unless withdrawn by 
authority of the committee before action which puts it in possession of 
the House (IV, 3129); and may not be made a special order for a future 
day by a motion to postpone to a day certain (IV, 3164). In order to be 
called up in this order a bill must actually be on the House Calendar, 
and properly there, in order to be considered (IV, 3122-3126), and a 
bill on the Union Calendar may not be brought up on call of committees 
under this clause (VI, 753). In case the authority of the committee to 
call up a bill is disputed the Speaker does not consider it his duty to 
decide the question (IV, 3127), but has made decision on statements from 
the chairman and other members of the committee (IV, 3128).





Sec. 891. Interruption of the call of committees by 
motion to go into Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union.

  5. After  one hour shall have been devoted to the consideration of bills 
called up by committees, it shall be in order, pending consideration or 
discussion thereof, to entertain a motion to go into Committee of the 
Whole House on the state of the Union, or, when authorized by a 
committee, to go into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
the Union to consider a particular bill, to which motion one amendment 
only, designating another bill, may be made; and if either motion be 
determined in the negative, it shall not be in order to make either 
motion again until the disposal of the matter under consideration or 
discussion.


  This portion of the rule was adopted in 1890 as part of the plan for 
enabling the House at will to go at any time to any public bill on its 
calendars (IV, 3134).



[[Page 701]]



Sec. 892. Conditions of the motion to go into 
Committee of the Whole at the end of one hour.

  The words  of the rule ``one hour 
after'' have been interpreted to mean a less time in case the call of 
committees shall have exhausted itself before the expiration of one hour 
(IV, 3135); but not otherwise (IV, 3141). After the House has been in 
Committee of the Whole under this order and has risen and reported, and 
the report has been acted on by the House, other motions to go into 
committee to consider other bills are in order (IV, 3136). The motion to 
go into committee generally may be made by the individual Member (IV, 
3138), but when it is proposed to designate a particular bill he must 
have the authority of a committee (IV, 3138). The amendment to the 
motion to consider a particular bill must refer to a bill on the Union 
Calendar (IV, 3139). This order of business is used entirely for non-
privileged bills and is not used in the House for consideration of bills 
in Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union if otherwise 
privileged (such as general appropriation bills and revenue bills, which 
have priority for consideration under clause 9 of rule XVI, and bills 
reported under the leave to report to the House at any time pursuant to 
clause 4(a) of rule XI).




Sec. 893. Interruption of the regular order on 
Tuesdays for consideration of the Private Calendar.

  6. On the  first Tuesday of 
each month after disposal of such business on the Speaker's table as 
requires reference only, the Speaker shall direct the Clerk to call the 
bills and resolutions on the Private Calendar. Should objection be made 
by two or more Members to the consideration of any bill or resolution so 
called, it shall be recommitted to the committee which reported the bill 
or resolution, and no reservation of objection shall be entertained by 
the Speaker. Such bills and resolutions, if considered, shall be 
considered in the House as in the Committee of the Whole. No other 
business shall be in order on this day unless the House, by two-thirds 
vote on motion to dispense therewith, shall otherwise determine. On such 
motion debate shall be limited to five minutes for and five minutes 
against said motion.



[[Page 702]]
reported the bill or resolution and no reservation of objection shall 
be entertained by the Speaker.
  On the third Tuesday of each month after the disposal of such business 
on the Speaker's table as requires reference only, the Speaker may 
direct the Clerk to call the bills and resolutions on the Private 
Calendar, preference to be given to omnibus bills containing bills or 
resolutions which have previously been objected to on a call of the 
Private Calendar. All bills and resolutions on the Private Calendar so 
called, if considered, shall be considered in the House as in the 
Committee of the Whole. Should objection be made by two or more members 
to the consideration of any bill or resolution other than an omnibus 
bill, it shall be recommitted to the committee which 

  Omnibus bills shall be read for amendment by paragraph, and no 
amendment shall be in order except to strike out or to reduce amounts of 
money stated or to provide limitations. Any item or matter stricken from 
an omnibus bill shall not thereafter during the same session of Congress 
be included in any omnibus bill.

  Upon passage of any such omnibus bill, said bill shall be resolved 
into the several bills and resolutions of which it is composed, and such 
original bills and resolutions, with any amendments adopted by the 
House, shall be engrossed, where necessary, and proceedings thereon had 
as if said bills and resolutions had been passed in the House severally.


  In the consideration of any omnibus bill the proceedings as set forth 
above shall have the same force and effect as if each Senate and House 
bill or resolution therein contained or referred to were considered by 
the House as a separate and distinct bill or resolution.



Sec. 894. Tuesday as a day for private 
business.

  This  provision was adopted in the 62d Congress in lieu of special 
orders under which pension and private business formerly had been 
considered. The rule was amended on April 23, 1932 (VII, 846) and was 
adopted in its present form on March 27, 1935, pp. 4480-89, 4538. Clause 
2 of rule XXII prohibits consideration of certain private bills. Under 
clause 6(e)(2) of rule XV, the Speaker may in his discretion recognize a 
Member to move a call of the House prior to the call of the Private 
Calendar (July 8, 1987, p. 18972).



[[Page 703]]
the five-minute rule are not entertained (Speaker Byrns, Mar. 17, 1936, 
pp. 3890, 3894-95).


Sec. 895. Methods of considering omnibus 
bills.

  During the  consideration of omnibus bills the Chair declines to recognize 
Members for unanimous consent requests to address the House, (Speaker 
pro tempore O'Connor, May 7, 1935, p. 7100); motions to strike out the 
last word are not in order, and requests for extension of time under 


  An omnibus private bill is normally passed over by the Clerk when the 
Private Calendar is called on the first Tuesday of the month, but the 
House may prescribe, by special order, that such omnibus bills shall be 
passed over (June 27, 1968, p. 19106). During the consideration of the 
First Omnibus Bill of 1968, seven roll calls occurred and seven of the 
15 bills carried therein were stricken by motion (Sept. 17, 1968, pp. 
27165-84). Amendments to the bill were strictly limited by the rule to 
those striking out or reducing amounts of money carried in the bill or 
to provide limitations, and debate on those permissible motions was 
under the five-minute rule. After the passage of an omnibus bill, it is 
resolved into the various private bills of which it is composed and each 
is engrossed and messaged to the Senate as if individually passed; thus 
it is possible, after passage of the omnibus bill, to lay on the table a 
private House or Senate bill which was included therein (by unanimous 
consent) (Sept. 17, 1968, pp. 27184-85).


  On the third Tuesday of the month, the calendar is not called unless 
the Speaker so directs (Oct. 16, 1990, p. ----); and when he does direct 
the Clerk to call the Private Calendar, omnibus bills on the Calendar 
are called before individual bills thereon (Feb. 17, 1970, pp. 3605-13). 
A motion to dispense with the call of the Private Calendar on the third 
Tuesday of each month, when the call of the Calendar is within the 
discretion of the Chair, is likewise in order in the Chair's discretion 
(although this clause only specifically provides for a motion to 
dispense with the call on the first Tuesday of each month), since no 
rule or precedent prohibits the motion and it is consistent with the 
discretionary authority of the Chair to dispense with the call of the 
entire Calendar (appeal from the Chair's ruling laid on the table) (Nov. 
17, 1981, pp. 27770-71).


[[Page 704]]
the Whole House on the state of the Union. This rule shall not apply 
during the last two weeks of the session. It shall not be in order for 
the Speaker to entertain a motion for a recess on any Wednesday except 
during the last two weeks of the session: Provided, That not more than 
two hours of general debate shall be permitted on any measure called up 
on Calendar Wednesday, and all debate must be confined to the subject 
matter of the bill, the time to be equally divided between those for and 
against the bill: Provided further, That whenever any committee shall 
have occupied one Wednesday it shall not be in order, unless the House 
by a two-thirds vote shall otherwise determine, to consider any 
unfinished business previously called up by such committee, unless the 
previous question had been ordered thereon, upon any succeeding 
Wednesday until the other committees have been called in their turn 
under this rule: Provided, That when, during any one session of a 
Congress, all of the committees of the House are not called under the 
Calendar Wednesday rule, at the next session of that Congress the call 
shall commence where it left off at the end of the preceding session.



Sec. 897. Calendar Wednesday business.

  7. On  Wednesday of 
each week no business shall be in order except as provided by clause 4 
of this rule unless the House by a two-thirds vote on motion to dispense 
therewith shall otherwise determine. On such a motion there may be 
debate not to exceed five minutes for and against. On a call of 
committees under this rule bills may be called up from either the House 
or the Union Calendar, excepting bills which are privileged under the 
rules; but bills called up from the Union Calendar shall be considered 
in the Committee of 



[[Page 705]]
gible for consideration on Calendar Wednesday (VII, 932-935). House 
Calendar bills have no preference over Union Calendar bills (VII, 938). 
The motion to dispense with a call of committees under this rule is 
privileged and may be made prior to the consideration of District of 
Columbia business under clause 8 of this rule (June 11, 1973, pp. 19028-
30).


Sec. 898. Decisions on Calendar Wednesday.

  The first  portion 
of this rule was adopted March 1, 1909, and amended March 15, 1909. The 
first and second provisos were adopted January 18, 1916. The last 
proviso was adopted December 8, 1931 (VII, 881), and was amended in the 
102d Congress to specify that the alphabetical call of the committees 
under Calendar Wednesday resumes where left off between sessions within 
a Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). The rule applies to 
unprivileged bills only, and when a bill otherwise unprivileged is given 
a privileged status by unanimous consent or by rule it is automatically 
rendered ineli


  When a bill on the Union Calendar is called up on Calendar Wednesday 
the House automatically resolves itself into the Committee of the Whole 
House on the state of the Union (VII, 939; Jan. 25, 1984, p. 358), and 
when a Union Calendar bill is the unfinished business the Speaker 
declares the House in Committee of the Whole without motion (VII, 940, 
942).

  The question of consideration may be raised on a bill on the House 
Calendar on Calendar Wednesday, even after one Wednesday has been 
devoted to its consideration (VIII, 2447), and the question of 
consideration is properly raised on Union Calendar bills in the House 
before automatically going into Committee of the Whole House on the 
state of the Union (VII, 952).

  During the 61st and 62d Congresses it was held that the call of 
committees rested where the call left off on the preceding day, whether 
the last call was on a Wednesday or during the morning hour on another 
day, thus making but one committee call under the two rules. But under 
the later practice there have been two distinct calls of committees, one 
under clause 4 of rule XXIV, the morning hour, and another under clause 
7 of rule XXIV, Calendar Wednesday (VII, 944). Prior to the adoption of 
the second paragraph of the rule, it was held that one committee could 
not occupy more than two Calendar Wednesdays (except for unfinished 
business) until other committees were called, notwithstanding the fact 
that the call rested on said committee (VII, 944), but the adoption of 
the second paragraph of the rule has defined the status of debate and 
unfinished business more explicitly. It was formerly held that a bill 
undisposed of on Calendar Wednesday became the unfinished business on 
the following Calendar Wednesday (VII, 965), but since the adoption of 
the second paragraph of the rule, one committee can occupy but one 
Calendar Wednesday for the consideration of its business (unless the 
House by two-thirds vote shall otherwise determine).

  The same rule of debate applies to House Calendar bills called up on 
Calendar Wednesday as on other days, and the Member in charge of the 
bill may move the previous question at any time (VII, 955).

  The previous question having been ordered on a bill undisposed of when 
the House adjourns Tuesday, the bill goes over as unfinished business 
until Thursday, and is not in order for consideration on Calendar 
Wednesday (VII, 890-894). The previous question having been ordered on a 
bill on Calendar Wednesday, the bill becomes the unfinished business on 
Thursday (VII, 895, 967).


[[Page 706]]
appropriation bill (VII, 904), or a bill under consideration by reason 
of a special order, unless the special order expressly sets aside 
Calendar Wednesday (VII, 773), or a conference report (VII, 899). A 
motion to reconsider an action taken on a bill on Tuesday may be 
entered, but may not be considered on Calendar Wednesday (VII, 905). 
Privileged bills may be reported but not considered on Calendar 
Wednesday (VII, 907), except by unanimous consent (Jan. 25, 1984, p. 
357). The Speaker has entertained a unanimous consent request for 
business (to send a bill to conference) before the call of committees on 
Calendar Wednesday (Mar. 28, 1984, p. 6869). District of Columbia 
business is eligible for consideration on Calendar Wednesday (VII, 937). 
Once the call of committees on Calendar Wednesday is completed, other 
business may be conducted (VII, 921).
  It is in order to consider a vetoed bill on Calendar Wednesday, since 
such a question is privileged under the Constitution of the United 
States (VII, 912), but a bill privileged by reason of the rules of the 
House cannot be called up on Calendar Wednesday (VII, 932); for example, 
a general 

  The Committee on Rules cannot report a rule which is aimed strictly or 
directly toward setting aside Calendar Wednesday, but the committee is 
not thereby prevented from reporting a resolution couched in general 
terms which may indirectly accomplish that ultimate result, such as a 
resolution providing for six days' suspension of the rules (VIII, 2267).

  The motion to grant a committee an additional Wednesday under the 
second proviso of the Calendar Wednesday rule is in order prior to the 
Wednesday on which the committee is called (VII, 946).

  It has been held that if no Member opposed to the bill desires to 
claim the hour specified in the rule for general debate against the 
bill, the time may be claimed by some Member who is in favor of the bill 
(VII, 962), but this principle has been questioned (VII, 961).


  Clause 2(l)(1)(A) of rule XI, requiring the chairman of each committee 
to report or cause to be reported promptly measures approved by his 
committee and to take such necessary steps to bring the matter to a 
vote, is sufficient authority for the chairman to call up a bill on 
Calendar Wednesday, but any other committee member must obtain specific 
authority of his committee to call up a reported bill on Calendar 
Wednesday (IV, 3128; VII, 928, 929; Feb. 22, 1950, p. 2162; Feb. 1, 
1984, p. 1193; Sept. 12, 1984, p. 25100). Prior to the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946 and the subsequent adoption of clause 
2(l)(1)(A) of rule XI, authority to call up a bill on Calendar Wednesday 
must have been given to a chairman by his committee (IV, 3127). A Member 
not authorized to do so may not call up such bill under the Calendar 
Wednesday rule (IV, 3128; VII, 928, 929).


[[Page 707]]
form and Oversight, be set apart for the consideration of such business 
relating to the District of Columbia as may be presented by said 
committee.



Sec. 899. District of Columbia.

  8. The  second and fourth 
Mondays in each month, after the disposition of motions to discharge 
committees and after the disposal of such business on the Speaker's 
table as requires reference only, shall, when claimed by the Committee 
on Government Re


  The first rule allocating a fixed day for District of Columbia 
business was adopted in 1870. In 1890 the rule was amended (IV, 3304). 
It was again amended December 8, 1931 (VII, 872). In the 104th Congress 
clause 8 was amended to reflect that the jurisdiction of the former 
Committee on the District of Columbia had been subsumed within the 
amalgamated jurisdiction of the newly designated Committee on Government 
Reform and Oversight (H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

  The Committee on Government Reform and Oversight may not, on a 
District day, call up a bill reported from another committee (IV, 3311). 
If certain of the committee's bills are on one of the calendars of the 
Committees of the Whole, a motion to go into committee to consider them 
is in order (IV, 3310). Bills reported from the District Committee are 
not so privileged as to prevent their being take up under call of 
committees on Wednesday (VII, 937). Business unfinished on one District 
day does not come up on the next unless called up (IV, 3307; VII, 879, 
880). The question of consideration may not be demanded against District 
business generally, but may be demanded against any bill as it is 
presented (IV, 3308, 3309).





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 707-708]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-109]

 
  On District days it is in order to go into the Committee of the Whole 
to consider revenue or general appropriation bills (VI, 716-718; VII, 
876, 1123). Consideration of conference reports is in order on District 
Monday (VIII, 3202). District of Columbia business is in order on the 
second and fourth Mondays of the month before or after other business 
(such as motions to suspend the rules), and the fact that the House has 
considered some District of Columbia business before motions to suspend 
the rules does not affect the eligibility of further such business after 
suspensions have been completed (Sept. 17, 1984, p. 25523).


                                Rule XXV.


<>   All questions relating to the priority of business 
shall be decided by a majority without debate.

                          PRIORITY OF BUSINESS.


[[Page 708]]

  This rule was adopted in 1803 to prevent obstructive debate (IV, 
3061). The question of consideration under clause 3 of rule XVI and the 
motion that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole are 
not debatable (VIII, 2447; IV, 3062, 3063). 





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 708]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-110]

 
  This rule may not be invoked to establish an order of business or to 
inhibit the Speaker's power of recognition (Speaker Albert, July 31, 
1975, p. 26249). It has been held that appeals from decisions of the 
Chair as to priority of business are not debatable under this rule (V, 
6952).


                               Rule XXVI.


                   UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF THE SESSION.




Sec. 901. Resumption of business of a preceding 
session.

  All business  before committees of the House at the end of one session 
shall be resumed at the commencement of the next session of the same 
Congress in the same manner as if no adjournment had taken place.


  At first the Congress attempted to follow the rule of the English 
Parliament that business unfinished in one session should begin anew at 
the next; but in 1818, after an investigation of a joint committee in 
1816, a rule was adopted that House bills remaining undetermined in the 
House should be continued at the next session after six days. This rule 
did not reach House bills sent to the Senate; but in 1848 the two Houses 
remedied this omission by a joint rule. Business referred to committees 
of the House was still subject to the old rule of Parliament; but in 
1860 the present rule was adopted as a supplement to the rule of 1818. 
In 1890, desiring to do away with the limitation of the six days and 
apparently overlooking the main purpose of the rule of 1818, the House 
rescinded that portion of this rule which dated from 1818. Also, in 1876 
the joint rules were abrogated, leaving no provision, except the 
headline of the rule, for the continuance of business not before 
committees. The practice, however, had become so well established that 
no question has ever been raised (V, 6727).







[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 709-719]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-111]

[[Page 709]]

 
  The business of conferences between the two Houses is not interrupted 
by an adjournment of a session which does not terminate the Congress (V, 
6260-6262), and even where one House asks a conference at one session 
the other may agree to it in the next session (V, 6286). Where bills 
were enrolled and signed by the presiding officers of the two Houses at 
the close of one session they were sent to the President and approved at 
the beginning of the next session (IV, 3486-3488). 


                               Rule XXVII.


                     CHANGE OR SUSPENSION OF RULES.




Sec. 902. Motions to suspend the rules.

  1. No rule  shall be 
suspended except by a vote of two-thirds of the Members voting, a quorum 
being present; nor shall the Speaker entertain a motion to suspend the 
rules except on Mondays and Tuesdays, and during the last six days of a 
session.


  This rule has been built up gradually on an old rule of 1794, which 
provided that no rule should be rescinded without one day's notice. In 
1822 a clause was added that no rule should be suspended except by a 
two-thirds vote; and in 1828 it was provided that the ``order of 
business, as established by the rules,'' should not be changed except by 
a two-thirds vote. This rule marks the great purpose of the motion, 
which was to give a means of getting consideration for bills which could 
not get forward under the rule for the order of business. Originally in 
order on any day, the motion was, in 1847, restricted to Mondays of each 
week, and, in 1880, to the first and third Mondays of each month. In 
1874 the old limit of 10 days at the end of the session was reduced to 6 
days. In the 93d Congress, the rule was amended to permit the Speaker to 
recognize for such motions on the first and third Mondays and on the 
Tuesdays immediately following those days and to eliminate the 
distinction between days on which committees and individuals has 
preference (H. Res. 6, Jan. 3, 1973, pp. 26, 27); and in the 95th 
Congress, the rule was amended to permit the Speaker to recognize for 
such motions on every Monday and Tuesday (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, 95th 
Cong., pp. 53-70). Originally of great use in establishing the order of 
business, when the older and more defective rules for the order of 
business existed, the use of the motion has changed since the House in 
1890 adopted rules for the order of business which enables the House on 
any day to go to any public bills on its calendars. Also about the same 
time the perfection of the process of getting bills before the House out 
of order by a majority vote through a report from the Committee on Rules 
still further diminished the importance of the motion to suspend the 
rules (V, 6790).


[[Page 710]]
tion may not be amended (V, 5322, 5405, 6858; Dec. 21, 1973, pp. 43251-
63; June 4, 1985, pp. 13983, 13986, 13989), postponed (V, 5322), or laid 
on the table (V, 5405), and the motion to reconsider may not be applied 
to a negative vote on the motion (V, 5645, 5646; VIII, 2781). The motion 
to refer may not be applied to the bill which it is proposed to pass 
under suspension of the rules (V, 6860). The motion to suspend the rules 
applied to the parliamentary law of Jefferson's Manual as well as to the 
other rules of the House (V, 6796), and may even be used to deny the 
right to have read a paper on which the House is to vote (V, 5278-5284). 
While it has been held that the right of a Member to have read the paper 
on which he is called to vote is not changed by the fact that the 
procedure is by suspension of the rules (V, 5277; VIII, 3400), the 
precedents are not uniform in this regard, and in earlier instances the 
separate motion to suspend the rules and dispense with reading of 
pendings bills, amendments and Senate amendments was held in order (V, 
5278-84). Under the modern practice, only the motion ``to suspend the 
rules and pass'' is itself read and is held to suspend all rules 
inconsistent with its purposes, including a rule requiring that a recess 
be taken (V, 5752), or that a quorum be present when a bill is reported 
from committee (Sept. 22, 1992, p. ----). Thus only the title of the 
bill is normally read by the Clerk, and amendments included in the 
motion are not reported separately, but the Chair may, in his 
discretion, where objection is made to that procedure, require the 
reading of an amendment which is not printed or otherwise available 
(July 17, 1950, pp. 10448-49). Where a motion to suspend the rules and 
agree to a resolution which provided for concurring in a Senate 
amendment with an amendment consisting of the text of a bill introduced 
in the House, the Speaker ruled that reading of the resolution itself 
was sufficient and that it could be re-read to the House only by 
unanimous consent (Dec. 21, 1973, pp. 43251-63). It may be used also to 
change a rule (V, 6862), or to make a new rule, as was more frequently 
done in the earlier years of the House when it was the only way for 
making a special order except by unanimous consent (IV, 3152-3162). In 
the later practice special orders may still be made on motion to suspend 
the rules (IV, 3154); but usually they are made by majority vote of the 
House on a report from the Committee on Rules (IV, 3169). The motion to 
suspend may include a series of actions, as the discharge of a committee 
from consideration of a bill and the passage of it (V, 6850), the 
reconsideration of the vote passing a bill, amendment of it, and passage 
again (V, 6849), the permission to a committee to report several bills 
(V, 6857), an order to the Clerk to incorporate in the engrossment of a 
general appropriation bill a provision not otherwise in order (IV, 
3845), an authorization to the House to entertain a specified motion to 
suspend the rules on a future day, not a suspension day (IV, 3845), a 
motion to take a bill (V, 6288; VIII, 3425), or a motion to reconsider, 
from the table (V, 5640). A motion to suspend the rules may provide for 
the passage of a bill regardless of whether it has been reported or 
referred to any calendar or even previously introduced (VIII, 3421), may 
include 

[[Page 711]]
an amendment without the formality of committee approval (June 22, 
1992, p.  ----), and may provide for agreeing to a conference report 
which has been ruled out of order by the Speaker (Dec. 20, 1974, p. 
41860). One motion to suspend the rules having been rejected, the 
Speaker may recognize for a similar motion (Dec. 21, 1973, pp. 43270-
81).


Sec. 903. Nature of the motion to suspend the 
rules.

  While originally  the motion was used to suspend the rule on the order of 
business in order to consider a particular bill (V, 6852, 6853), in the 
later practice it is more usual to move ``to suspend the rules and 
pass'' the bill (V, 6846, 6847), and a division of the question may not 
be demanded, either as to the two branches of the motion or as to 
distinct substantive propositions in the subject of the motion (V, 6141-
6143). The mo



[[Page 712]]
Speaker's denial of recognition (II, 1425), and no advance notice to 
Members of bills to be called up under suspension of the rules is 
required (Mar. 20, 1978, pp. 7535-36), but the rules forbid the Speaker 
to entertain a motion to suspend the rules relating to the privilege of 
the floor (Sec. 919; V, 7283; VIII, 3634), the use of the Hall of the 
House (Sec. 918; V, 7270) or prohibiting the introduction of persons in 
the galleries (Sec. 764; VI, 197).


Sec. 904. Precedence of the motion to suspend the 
rules.

  In the  early practice, when the motion to suspend the rules was used 
to enable a matter to be taken up for consideration out of order, it was 
not admitted when a subject was already before the House (V, 5278, 6836, 
6837, 6852, 6853). A bill taken up under this early practice might be 
amended (V, 6842, 6856) by the House, or withdrawn by the mover, in 
which case another Member might not present it (V, 6854, 6855). In the 
later practice, where the motion includes both suspension of the rules 
and action on the subject it is admitted, although another matter be 
pending (V, 6834), although the yeas and nays may have been demanded on 
another highly privileged motion (V, 6835), or although the previous 
question may have been ordered or moved on another matter (V, 6827; see 
also Sept. 17, 1990, p. ----; V, 6831-6833; VIII, 3418). Earlier 
rulings, however, did not, while a series of Senate amendments were 
pending, permit a motion to suspend the rules in order to permit a vote 
to be taken on the amendments in gross (V, 6828, 6830). But in the 
earlier practice, also, while a matter was pending a motion to suspend 
the rules in order to dispense with the reading otherwise required was 
admitted (V, 5278). The motion to suspend the rules has been ruled out 
of order when the House is considering a bill under a special order (V, 
6838); and when a question of high privilege under rule IX is before the 
House a motion to suspend the rules and consider another matter is not 
in order (V, 6825, 6826; VI, 553, 565). But the motion to suspend the 
rules has been held of equal privilege with the motion to instruct 
conferees after 20 days of conference, which under clause 1(c) of rule 
XXVIII is ``of the highest privilege'' (Mar. 1, 1988, pp. 2749, 2751, 
2754). A motion to suspend the rules and approve the Journal was held in 
order, although the Journal had not been read and the then highly 
privileged motion to fix the day to which the House should adjourn was 
pending (IV, 2758). While the motion is of high privilege, it may be 
superseded by a question of the privilege of the House (III, 2553; VI, 
565). Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XVI the Speaker may entertain one 
motion to adjourn pending a motion to suspend the rules, but after that 
vote shall not entertain any other motion until the vote is taken on the 
motion to suspend the rules. Moreover, in the absence of a motion to 
suspend, the ordinary motions relating to business of the House may be 
made on suspension days as on other days (IV, 3080). The motion to 
suspend the rules may be made on days other than suspension days by 
unanimous consent (V, 6795) or by adoption of a resolution reported by 
the Rules Committee. On ``suspension days'' the motion to suspend the 
rules has been admitted at the discretion of the Speaker since 1881 (V, 
6791-6794, 6845; VIII, 3402-3404), and no appeal may be taken from the 




Sec. 905. Individual and committee motions to suspend 
the rules.

  Prior to  the 93d Congress, the rule gave to individuals preference 
on the first Monday of the month for making motions to suspend the 
rules, and preference on the third Mondays for committees to make the 
motion (V, 6790). In rare instances the Speaker has called the 
committees
in regular order for motions to suspend the rules, but this method is 
not required (V, 6810, 6811). In the earlier practice the committee 
motion must have been formally and specifically authorized by the 
committee (V, 6805-6807); but after the motion was seconded and debate 
had begun it was too late to raise a question as to the authorization 
(V, 6808). Under the later practice authorization by a committee is not 
required (VIII, 3410). The committee may not present a bill which has 
not been referred to it (V, 6813) and is not within its jurisdiction (V, 
6848). A bill offered on a committee suspension day, in the early 
practice, could carry with it only such amendments as were authorized by 
a committee (V, 6812), but in the modern practice the formality of 
committee approval is not required (June 22, 1992, p. ----). If on a 
committee day an individual motion was made and seconded, it was then 
too late to make a point of order (V, 6809).



[[Page 713]]
clause 4 of rule XV the yeas and nays were ordered (IV, 3053-3055; Dec. 
21, 1973, pp. 43251-63). Where the Chair allocates the time in 
opposition to the motion to the ranking minority member of the reporting 
committee, a challenge that that member does not qualify by being 
opposed, in order to control such time, must be made when the time is 
allocated by the Chair (May 15, 1984, p. 12215; Speaker Wright, June 2, 
1987, p. 14223). The motion to suspend the rules may be withdrawn at any 
time before the Chair puts the question and a voice vote is taken 
thereon (July 27, 1981, p. 17563).



Sec. 906. The second of the motion to suspend the 
rules.

  Prior to  the 102d Congress, certain motions to suspend the rules were 
required to be seconded, if demanded, by a majority by tellers, but this 
requirement was eliminated from the rule in the 102d Congress (H. Res. 
5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). This requirement for a second was adopted in 
1874, was rescinded two years later, but was again adopted in 1880. The 
object of it was to prevent consumption of the time of the House by 
forcing consideration of undesirable propositions (V, 6797). The 
requirement (formerly clause 2) was amended in the 96th Congress (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16) so that a second was not required where 
printed copies of the proposed measure were available. Copies of reports 
on bills considered under suspension are not required to be available in 
advance. The Constitutional right of a Member to demand the yeas and 
nays, or the right of a Member under clause 5(a) of rule I to demand a 
recorded vote, did not exist on the question of ordering a second under 
the former clause 2, which only permited the ordering of a second by 
tellers if a quorum was present (V, 6032-6036; VIII, 3109; Dec. 16, 
1981, p. 31851). The fact that a majority of the Members of the House 
did not pass between the tellers on the question of ordering a second 
did not conclusively show that a quorum was not present in the Chamber, 
and the Speaker could count the House to determine whether a quorum was 
actually present (Dec. 16, 1981, p. 31851). But where a quorum failed on 
the vote for a second, under 





Sec. 907. The forty minutes of debate on motion to 
suspend the rules.

  2. When a  motion to suspend the rules has been submitted to 
the House, it shall be in order, before the final vote is taken thereon, 
to debate the proposition to be voted upon for forty minutes, one-half 
of such time to be given to debate in favor of, and one-half to debate 
in opposition to, such proposition; and the same right of debate shall 
be allowed whenever the previous question has been ordered on any 
proposition on which there has been no debate.


  Formerly clause 3, this provision was amended and redesignated in the 
102d Congress to conform to the repeal of the former clause 2, relating 
to the requirement of a second (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). 
Before the adoption of this clause in 1880 (V, 6821) the motion to 
suspend the rules was not debatable (V, 5405, 6820). The 40 minutes of 
debate is divided between the mover and a Member opposed to the bill, 
unless it develops that the mover is opposed to the bill, in which event 
some Member in favor is recognized for debate (VIII, 3416). Where 
recognition for the 20 minutes in opposition is contested, the Speaker 
will accord priority first on the basis of true opposition, then on the 
basis of committee membership, and only then on the basis of party 
affiliation, the latter preference inuring to the minority party (VIII, 
3415; Nov. 18, 1991, p. ----). When the mover and the opponent divide 
their time with others, the practice as to alternation of recognitions 
is not insisted on so rigidly as in other debate (II, 1442). Debate 
should be confined to the object of the motion and may not range to the 
merits of a bill not scheduled for suspension on that day (Nov. 23, 
1991, p. ----).


[[Page 714]]
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70), and amended further in the 96th 
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16). The paragraph was deleted 
entirely in the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, pp. 98-113) when 
all of the Speaker's postponing authorities were consolidated into 
clause 5 of rule I.
  This clause formerly included a paragraph (b) dealing with the 
Speaker's authority to postpone further proceedings on motions to 
suspend the rules and pass bills or resolutions. Paragraph (b) was added 
in the 93d Congress (H. Res. 998, Apr. 9, 1974, pp. 10195-99), amended 
in the 95th Congress 




Sec. 907a. The forty minutes of debate on other 
propositions.

  The last  provision of this clause allows 40 minutes of debate 
when the previous question is ordered on a proposition on which there 
has been no debate (V, 6821; Mar. 22, 1990, p. ----). However, any 
previous debate on the merits of the main proposition precludes the 40 
minutes (V, 5499-5502). The demand for 40 minutes of debate: must come 
before the vote is taken on the main question (V, 5496); is not 
available when the question on which the previous question is ordered is 
otherwise nondebatable, such as the motion to close debate (VIII, 2555, 
2690); is not available on an undebated amendment where the motion for 
the previous question covers both the amendment and the original 
proposition, which has been debated (V, 5504); and is not available on 
incidental motions (V, 5497-5498), on propositions previously debated in 
Committee of the Whole (V, 5505), on conference reports accompanying 
measures that were debated before being sent to conference (V, 5506-
5507), or on ancillary measures, such as a concurrent resolution to 
correct an enrolled bill (V, 5508). Debate allowed under this provision 
is equally divided and controlled between the person demanding the time 
and a Member representing the opposition (Sept. 13, 1965, pp. 23602-06; 
May 8, 1985, p. 11073). Priority in recognition for time in opposition 
is accorded to a Member truly opposed (VIII, 2689).



[[Page 715]]
resolution which has remained in a standing committee thirty or more 
days without action: Provided, That said resolution from which it is 
moved to discharge the Committee on Rules has been referred to that 
committee at least seven days prior to the filing of the motion to 
discharge. The motion shall be placed in the custody of the Clerk, who 
shall arrange some convenient place for the signature of Members. A 
signature may be withdrawn by a Member in writing at any time before the 
motion is entered on the Journal. Once a motion to discharge has been 
filed, the Clerk shall make the signatures a matter of public record. -
The Clerk shall cause the names of the Members who have signed a 
discharge motion during any week to be published in a portion of the 
Congressional Record designated for that purpose on the last legislative 
day of that week. The Clerk shall make available each day for public 
inspection in an appropriate office of the House cumulative lists of 
such names. The Clerk shall devise a means by which to make such lists 
available to offices of the House and to the public in electronic form. 
When a majority of the total membership of the House shall have signed 
the motion, it shall be entered on the Journal, printed with the 
signatures thereto in the Congressional Record, and referred to the 
Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees.


Sec. 908. Motion to discharge a committee.

  3. A Member  may 
present to the Clerk a motion in writing to discharge a committee from 
the consideration of a public bill or resolution which has been referred 
to it thirty days prior thereto (but only one motion may be presented 
for each bill or resolution). Under this rule it shall also be in order 
for a Member to file a motion to discharge the Committee on Rules from 
further consideration of any resolution providing either a special order 
of business, or a special rule for the consideration of any public bill 
or resolution favorably reported by a standing committee, or a special 
rule for the consideration of a public bill or 



[[Page 716]]
of the Journal, any Member who has signed a motion to discharge which 
has been on the calendar at least seven days prior thereto, and seeks 
recognition, shall be recognized for the purpose of calling up the 
motion, and the House shall proceed to its consideration in the manner 
herein provided without intervening motion except one motion to adjourn. 
Recognition for the motions shall be in the order in which they have 
been entered on the Journal.
  On the second and fourth Mondays of each month except during the last 
six days of any session of Congress, immediately after the approval 


[[Page 717]]
and if unfinished before adjournment of the day on which it is called 
up it shall remain the unfinished business until it is fully disposed 
of. Should the House by vote decide against the immediate consideration 
of such bill or resolution, it shall be referred to its proper calendar 
and be entitled to the same rights and privileges that it would have had 
had the committee to which it was referred duly reported same to the 
House for its consideration: Provided, That when any perfected motion to 
discharge a committee from the consideration of any public bill or 
resolution has once been acted upon by the House it shall not be in 
order to entertain during the same session of Congress any other motion 
for the discharge from that committee of said measure, or from any other 
committee of any other bill or resolution substantially the same, 
relating in substance to or dealing with the same subject matter, or 
from the Committee on Rules of a resolution providing a special order of 
business for the consideration of any other such bill or resolution, in 
order that such action by the House on a motion to discharge shall be 
res adjudicata for the remainder of that session: Provided further, That 
if before any one motion to discharge a committee has been acted upon by 
the House there are on the Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees 
other motions to discharge committees from the consideration of bills or 
resolutions substantially the same, relating in substance to or dealing 
with the same subject matter, after the House shall have acted on one mo

[[Page 718]]
tion to discharge, the remaining said motions shall be stricken from 
the Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees and not acted on during 
the remainder of that session of Congress.

  When any motion under this rule shall be called up, the bill or 
resolution shall be read by title only. After twenty minutes' debate, 
one-half in favor of the proposition and one-half in opposition thereto, 
the House shall proceed to vote on the motion to discharge. If the 
motion prevails to discharge the Committee on Rules from any resolution 
pending before the committee, the House shall immediately consider such 
resolution, the Speaker not entertaining any dilatory motion except one 
motion to adjourn, and, if such resolution is adopted, the House shall 
immediately proceed to its execution. If the motion prevails to 
discharge one of the standing committees of the House from any public 
bill or resolution pending before the committee, it shall then be in 
order for any Member who signed the motion to move that the House 
proceed to the immediate consideration of such bill or resolution (such 
motion not being debatable), and such motion is hereby made of high 
privilege; and if it shall be decided in the affirmative, the bill shall 
be immediately considered under the general rules of the House, 

  This clause was adopted December 8, 1931 and amended January 3, 1935 
(VII, 1007). It displaced a rule providing for a motion to instruct a 
committee to report a public bill or resolution. The first discharge 
rule was adopted June 17, 1910, pp. 8439, 8445. It was amended during 
the 62d Congress (Apr. 4-5, 1911, pp. 18, 80). It was further amended in 
the 62d Congress (H. Res. 407, Feb. 3, 1912, p. 1685), the 68th Congress 
(H. Res. 146, Jan. 18, 1924, p. 1143), and the 69th Congress, (H. Res. 
6, Dec. 7, 1925, p. 383). Formerly clause 4, this provision was 
redesignated in the 102d Congress to conform to the repeal of the former 
clause 2, relating to the requirement of a second; it was at the same 
time amended to enable debate on a resolution discharged from the 
Committee on Rules (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). Under the 
previous form of the rule, where the Committee on Rules was discharged 
from further consideration of a resolution the House immediately voted 
on adoption of the resolution (Speaker Rayburn, Jan. 24, 1944, pp. 631-
32).

  In the 103d Congress, after a successful petition under this clause 
placed on the calendar a motion to discharge the Committee on Rules from 
further consideration of a resolution to require publication of the 
names of Members who had signed pending discharge petitions, the clause 
was so amended (H. Res. 134, Sept. 28, 1993, p. ----). In the 104th 
Congress the clause was once again amended to ensure the periodic 
publication of such names (sec. 219, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). 
Before the 103d Congress signatures on a motion to discharge a committee 
were not made public until the requisite number had signed the motion 
(VII, 1008; Apr. 12, 1934, p. 6489).

  The phrase ``a majority of the total membership of the House'' was 
construed to mean 218 Members (Speaker Byrns, Apr. 15, 1936, p. 5509). 
The word ``days'' has been construed to mean ``legislative days'' 
(Speaker Bankhead, Dec. 10, 1937, p. 1300). The rule does not authorize 
signature of discharge motions by proxy (VII, 1014).

  The rule does not apply to a bill that has been reported by a 
committee during the interval between the placing of a motion to 
discharge on the calendar and the day when such motion is called up for 
action in the House (Apr. 23, 1934, p. 7156). The Committee on Rules may 
not be discharged from further consideration of a resolution providing 
for an investigating committee (Apr. 23, 1934, p. 7161).


[[Page 719]]
Jan. 16, 1950, p. 436). The seven days that the motion must be on the 
calendar before it may be called up begins to run as of the day the 
motion is placed on the calendar (Dec. 14, 1937, p. 1517). A discharge 
petition in the 102d Congress received the requisite number of 
signatures on the same day it was filed (May 20, 1992, p. ----), and 
subsequently by unanimous consent the House dispensed with the motion to 
discharge and agreed to consider the object of the petition (a special 
order of business resolution) on a date certain under the same terms as 
if discharged by motion (June 4, 1992, p. ----). In the 103d Congress a 
discharge petition also received the requisite number of signatures on 
the same day it was filed (Feb. 24, 1994, p. ----).
  The death or resignation of a Member who has signed a motion does not 
invalidate his signature (May 31, 1934, p. 10159). It may be withdrawn 
by his successor (Dec. 7, 1943, p. 10388; Jan. 17, 1946, p. 96; Mar. 5, 
1946, p. 1968; July 30, 1946, pp. 10464, 10491; Mar. 2, 1948, pp. 1993, 
2001; 

  The right to close twenty minute debate on a motion to discharge a 
Committee is reserved to the proponents of the motion (VII, 1010a); and 
the chairman of the committee being discharged, if opposed to the 
motion, has been recognized to control the ten minutes in opposition 
(Aug. 10, 1970, p. 27999).

  Where a measure not requiring consideration in the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union is brought before the House by a 
successful motion to discharge, the Member moving its consideration is 
recognized in the House under the hour rule (Aug. 10, 1970, p. 28004).





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 719-741]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-112]

 
  The point of order provided in clause 5(a) of rule XXI does not apply 
to an appropriation in a bill taken away from a committee by the motion 
to discharge (VII, 1019a).


                              Rule XXVIII.


                           CONFERENCE REPORTS.




Sec. 909. High privilege of conference reports; and 
form of accompanying statement.

  1. (a) The  presentation of reports of committees 
of conference shall always be in order, except when the Journal is being 
read, while the roll is being called, or the House is dividing on any 
proposition.


  The practice of giving conference reports privilege dates from 1850, 
having had its origin in a temporary rule. This practice was continued 
by rulings of the Chair until this rule was adopted in 1880 (V, 6443-
6446, 6454).


[[Page 720]]
yields to Calendar Wednesday business (VII, 899). It even takes 
precedence of the motion to reconsider (V, 5605), motions to go into the 
Committee of the Whole for consideration of general appropriation bills 
(VIII, 3291), consideration of District of Columbia business on Monday 
(VIII, 3292), unfinished business (Speaker O'Neill, Oct. 4, 1978, p. 
33473), and motions to adjourn (V, 6451-6453), although as soon as the 
report is presented the motion to adjourn may be put (V, 6451-6453). 
Also the consideration of a conference report may be interrupted, even 
in the midst of the reading of the Statement, by the arrival of the hour 
previously fixed for a recess (V, 6524). While it may not be presented 
while the House is dividing, it may be presented after a vote by tellers 
and pending the question of ordering the yeas and nays (V, 6447). It 
also has precedence of a report from the Committee on Rules (V, 6449), 
and has been permitted to intervene when a special order provides that 
the House shall consider a certain bill ``until the same is disposed 
of'' (V, 6454). Of course, a question of privilege which relates to the 
integrity of the House as an agency for action may not be required to 
yield precedence to a matter entitled to priority merely by the rules 
relating to the order of business (V, 6454). The question of 
consideration under clause 3 of rule XVI may be demanded against a 
conference report before points of order against the report are raised 
(VIII, 2439; Speaker Albert, Sept. 28, 1976, p. 33019). The motion to 
lay on the table may not be applied to a conference report (V, 6540).
  Under the language of the rule a conference report may be presented 
while a Member is occupying the floor in debate (V, 6451; VIII 3294), 
while a bill is being read (V, 6448), after the yeas and nays have been 
ordered (V, 6457), after the previous question has been demanded or 
ordered (V, 6449, 6450); during a call of the House if a quorum be 
present (V, 6456) and on Calendar Wednesday (VII, 907), but 
consideration of such reports 

  While the rule provides that the managers of the House asking for 
conference shall leave the papers with the managers of the other 
(Secs. 555-556, supra), if the managers on the part of the House 
agreeing to a conference surrender the papers to the House asking the 
conference, the report may be received first by the House asking the 
conference (VIII, 3330).


  For further discussion of conference reports, see provisions of 
Jefferson's Manual at Secs. 527-559, supra.




Sec. 909a. Time for debate on motions to 
instruct.

  (b) The time  allotted for debate on any motion to instruct House 
conferees shall be equally divided between the majority and minority 
parties, except that if the proponent of the motion and the Member from 
the other party are both supporters of the motion, one-third of such 
debate time shall be allotted to a Member who is opposed to said motion.



[[Page 721]]
hour under clause 2 of rule XIV (Oct. 3, 1989, p. 22863; July 14, 1993, 
p. ----; Aug. 1, 1994, p. ----). The proponent of a motion to instruct 
conferees has the right to close debate (July 28, 1994, p. ----).

  This paragraph was added in the 101st Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 
1989, p. 72). The division of debate time specified in this clause does 
not apply to an amendment to a motion after defeat of the previous 
question thereon, and the proponent of such an amendment is recognized 
for one 




Sec. 910. Motions privileged after 20 calendar days 
of conference.

  (c) After  House conferees on any bill or resolution in conference 
between the House and Senate shall have been appointed for twenty 
calendar days
and shall have failed to make a report, it is hereby declared to be a 
motion of the highest privilege to move to discharge said House 
conferees and to appoint new conferees, or to instruct said House 
conferees (but in either case only at a time or place designated by the 
Speaker in the legislative schedule of the day after the calendar day on 
which the Member offering the motion announces to the House his 
intention to do so and the form of the motion); and, further, during the 
last six days of any sessions of Congress, it shall be a privileged 
motion to move to discharge, appoint, or instruct, House conferees after 
House conferees shall have been appointed thirty-six hours without 
having made a report.



[[Page 722]]
House conferees to insist on holding conference sessions under just and 
fair conditions, and in executive session if desirable (Aug. 1, 1935, p. 
12272), and may instruct House conferees to meet with Senate conferees 
(May 2, 1984, p. 10732). The motion to instruct conferees under this 
clause is of equal privilege with the motion to suspend the rules on a 
suspension day (Mar. 1, 1988, pp. 2749, 2751, 2754).

  This clause was adopted December 8, 1931 (VIII, 3225). The notice 
requirement was added on January 3, 1989 (H. Res. 5, 101st Cong., p. 
72), and amended on January 5, 1993 (H. Res. 5, 103d Cong., p. ----) to 
clarify that both the motion to discharge conferees and appoint new 
conferees and the motion to instruct conferees after 20 days in 
conference are subject to one day's notice, and to authorize the Speaker 
to designate a time in that day's legislative schedule for the 
consideration of a noticed motion to discharge or instruct conferees. 
The motion to instruct conferees under this clause may be repeated 
notwithstanding prior disposition of an identical motion to instruct, 
since any number of proper motions to instruct are in order after 
conferees have not reported within 20 days (Speaker Albert, July 22, 
1974, pp. 24448-49; July 10, 1985, p. 18440), and the motion remains 
available when a conference report, filed after 20 or more days in 
conference, is recommitted by the first House to act thereon, since the 
conferees are not discharged and the original conference remains in 
being (June 28, 1990, p. ----). A motion under this clause may instruct 




Sec. 911. The statement accompanying a conference 
report.

  (d) Each  report made by a committee of conference to the House shall be 
printed as a report of the House. As so printed, such report shall be 
accompanied by an explanatory statement prepared jointly by the 
conferees on the part of the House and the conferees on the part of the 
Senate. Such statement shall be sufficiently detailed and explicit to 
inform the House as to the effect which the amendments or propositions 
contained in such report will have upon the measure to which those 
amendments or propositions relate.


  The original rule requiring the submission of a statement was adopted 
in 1880 (V, 6443) and remained in effect through the 91st Congress. The 
following precedents are in interpretation of that rule, which required 
only that the statement be signed by a majority of the House managers 
(V, 6505, 6506), and did not anticipate a statement jointly prepared by 
the managers on the part of the House and those on the part of the 
Senate. The Speaker may require the statement to be in proper form (V, 
6513), but it is for the House and not the Speaker to determine whether 
or not it conforms to the rule in other respects (V, 6511, 6512). A 
report may not be received without the accompanying statement (V, 6504, 
6514, 6515). A quorum among the managers on the part of the House at a 
committee of conference is established by their signatures on the 
conference report and joint explanatory statement (Oct. 4, 1994, p. ----
).


  The rule was revised in the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 
(sec. 125(b); 84 Stat. 1140) and made a part of the standing rules of 
the House in its present form in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 
1971, p. 144).


[[Page 723]]
to ensure that the Director of that Office prepares a statement with 
respect to unfunded costs of any additional Federal mandate contained in 
the conference agreement. See Sec. 1007, infra.



Sec. 911a. 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), requires a committee of conference 



[[Page 724]]
Member who is opposed to said conference report.



Sec. 912a. Consideration of conference 
reports.

  2. (a) It shall  not be in order to consider the report of a committee of 
conference until the third calendar day (excluding any Saturday, Sunday, 
or legal holiday) after such report and the accompanying statement shall 
have been filed in the House, and such consideration then shall be in 
order only if such report and accompanying statement shall have been 
printed in the daily edition of the Congressional Record for the day on 
which such report and statement shall have been filed; but the preceding 
provisions of this sentence do not apply during the last six days of the 
session. Nor shall it be in order to consider any conference report 
unless copies of the report and accompanying statement have been 
available to Members for at least two hours before the beginning of such 
consideration: 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 only making in order 
the consideration of a conference report notwithstanding this 
restriction. The time allotted for debate in the consideration of any 
such report shall be equally divided between the majority party and the 
minority party, except that if the floor manager for the majority and 
the floor manager for the minority are both supporters of the conference 
report, one third of such debate time shall be allotted to a 


  The original rule requiring that conference reports be printed in the 
Record was adopted in 1902 (V, 6516). The three-day layover requirement 
in paragraph (a), as well as its provisions relating to the availability 
of copies of the conference report and the division of time for debate, 
were added by section 125(b) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 
1970 and made part of the rules in the 92d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 
1971, p. 144). The first sentence of the clause was again amended the 
next year (H. Res. 1153, Oct. 13, 1972, p. 36023) to clarify the manner 
of counting the three days for the layover period.

  The second sentence in paragraph (a) was amended, and its third 
sentence added, in the 94th Congress (Feb. 26, 1976, p. 4625) to require 
copies of conference reports to be available for two hours before 
consideration and to allow for the immediate consideration of a 
resolution from the Committee on Rules waiving that requirement. For an 
example of a resolution reported from the Committee on Rules only 
waiving the availability requirement of this clause and called up the 
same day reported without a two-thirds vote, see August 10, 1984 (p. 
23978).

  When managers report that they have been unable to agree, the report 
is not acted on by the House (V, 6562; VIII, 3329; Aug. 23, 1957, p. 
15816).

  Paragraph (a) was amended in the 99th Congress to provide that if both 
the floor manager for the majority and the floor manager for the 
minority support a conference report, the hour of debate thereon be 
divided three ways among the managers and a Member who is opposed (H. 
Res. 7, Jan. 3, 1985, p. 393). Recognition of one Member in opposition 
does not depend upon party affiliation and is within the discretion of 
the Speaker (Dec. 11, 1985, p. 36069; Dec. 16, 1985, p. 36716; Oct. 15, 
1986, p. 31631), who accords priority in recognition to a member of the 
conference committee (Speaker Wright, Dec. 21, 1987, pp. 37093, 37516). 
Where the time is divided three ways, the right to close debate falls to 
the majority manager calling up the conference report, preceded by the 
minority manager, preceded in turn by the Member in opposition--i.e., 
the reverse order of the recognition to begin debate (Aug. 4, 1989, p. 
19301).


  Following rejection of a conference report on a point of order, debate 
on a motion to dispose of the Senate amendment remaining in disagreement 
is evenly divided between the majority and minority under the rationale 
contained in clause 2(b) (Speaker Albert, Sept. 30, 1976, pp. 34074-
34100).


[[Page 725]]
measure reported in disagreement between the two Houses, by a report of 
a committee of conference that the committee has been unable to agree, 
until the third calendar day (excluding any Saturday, Sunday, or legal 
holiday) after such report and accompanying statement shall have been 
filed in the House, and such consideration then shall be in order only 
if such report and accompanying statement shall have been printed in the 
daily edition of the Congressional Record for the day on which such 
report and statement shall have been filed; but the preceding provisions 
of this sentence do not apply during the last six days of the session. 
Nor shall it be in order to consider any such amendment unless copies of 
the report and accompanying statement, together with the text of such 
amendment, have been available to Members for at least two hours before 
the beginning of such consideration: 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 only making in order the consideration of such an amendment 
notwithstanding this restriction. The time allotted for debate on any 
such amendment shall be equally divided between the majority party and 
the minority party, except that if the floor manager for the majority 
and the floor manager for the minority are both supporters of the 
original motion offered by the floor manager for the majority to dispose 
of the amendment, one third of such debate time shall 

[[Page 726]]
be allotted to a Member who is opposed to said motion.



Sec. 912b. Consideration of amendments in 
disagreement.

  (b)(1) It  shall not be in order to consider any amendment 
(including an amendment in the nature of a substitute) proposed by the 
Senate to any 


  Paragraph (b)(1), relating to the consideration of amendments reported 
from conference in disagreement, was added to the rule as paragraph (b) 
in 1972 (H. Res. 1153, Oct. 13, 1972, p. 36023) and became effective at 
the end of the 92d Congress.

  The second sentence in paragraph (b)(1) of this clause was amended, 
and its third sentence added, in the 94th Congress (Feb. 26, 1976, p. 
4625) to require copies of amendments reported from conference in 
disagreement to be available for two hours before consideration and to 
allow for the immediate consideration of a resolution from the Committee 
on Rules waiving that requirement.

  Paragraph (b) was amended in the 99th Congress to provide that if both 
the floor manager for the majority and the floor manager for the 
minority support the original motion offered to dispose of an amendment 
reported from conference in disagreement, the hour of debate thereon be 
divided three ways, among the managers and a Member who is opposed (H. 
Res. 7, Jan. 3, 1985, p. 393). Recognition of one Member in opposition 
does not depend upon party affiliation and is within the discretion of 
the Speaker (Dec. 11, 1985, p. 36069; Dec. 16, 1985, p. 36716; Oct. 15, 
1986, p. 31631), who accords priority in recognition to a member of the 
conference committee (Speaker Wright, Dec. 21, 1987, pp. 37093, 37516). 
The right to close the debate where the time is divided three ways falls 
to the manager offering the motion (Nov. 21, 1989, p. 30814).


[[Page 727]]
offering a proper preferential motion to dispose of the Senate 
amendment (July 2, 1980, p. 18360).
  The custom has developed, however, of equally dividing between 
majority and minority parties the time on all motions to dispose of 
amendments emerging from conference in disagreement, whether reported in 
disagreement or before the House upon rejection of a conference report 
by a vote or on a point of order (Speaker Albert, Sept. 27, 1976, pp. 
32719-26; Sept. 30, 1976, pp. 34074-34100), upon rejection of an initial 
motion to dispose of the amendment (July 2, 1980, pp. 18357-59; Aug. 6, 
1993, p. ----), on a motion to concur in a new Senate amendment where 
the Senate had receded with an amendment from one of its amendments 
reported from conference in disagreement (Mar. 24, 1983, p. 7301), or on 
a motion to dispose of a further stage of amendment which is 
subsequently before the House (Aug. 1, 1985, p. 22561; Dec. 19, 1985, p. 
38360). A Member offering a preferential motion does not thereby control 
one-half of the time, as all debate is allotted under the original 
motion (May 14, 1975, p. 14385), subject to a possible three-way split 
among the majority and minority managers and a Member opposed to the 
motion (Sept. 12, 1994, p. ----). The minority Member in charge controls 
30 minutes for debate only and can only yield to other Members for 
debate (Dec. 4, 1975, p. 38716). Where time for debate on such a motion 
is equally divided, the previous question may not be moved by the Member 
first recognized so as to prevent the Member from the other party from 
controlling half the debate and from 

  The division of time for debate on a motion to dispose of a Senate 
amendment reported from conference in disagreement under clause 2(b)(1) 
does not extend to separate debate on an amendment thereto, which is 
governed by clause 2 of rule XIV, the general hour rule in the House 
(Sept. 17, 1992, p. ----).


  Until the adoption of paragraph (b), reports in total disagreement 
were not printed in the Record before the amendment in disagreement were 
again taken up in the House (VIII, 3299, 3332).




Sec. 912c. Certain motions to insist as 
preferential.

  (2) During  consideration of such an amendment to a general 
appropriation bill, if the original motion offered by the floor manager 
proposes to change existing law, then pending such original motion and 
before debate thereon one motion to insist on disagreement to the 
amendment proposed by the Senate shall be preferential to any other 
motion to dispose of that amendment if offered by the chairman of a 
committee having jurisdiction of the subject matter of the amendment or 
by a designee. Such a preferential motion shall be separately debatable 
for one hour equally divided between its proponent and the proponent of 
the original motion. The previous question shall be considered as 
ordered on such a preferential motion to its adoption without 
intervening motion.



[[Page 728]]
ployees to separation pay, enabling the chairman of that committee to 
offer a preferential motion to insist under this clause (Oct. 20, 1993, 
p. ----).

  Paragraph (b)(2) was added in the 103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 
1993, p. ----) to make preferential and separately debatable a motion to 
insist on disagreement to a Senate amendment to a general appropriation 
bill, if: (1) the Senate amendment has been reported from conference in 
disagreement; (2) the original motion to dispose of the Senate amendment 
proposes to change existing law; and (3) the motion to insist is timely 
offered by the chairman of a committee of jurisdiction or a designee. 
The Committee on Post Office and Civil Service (now the Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight) has jurisdiction under clause 1 of rule 
X over the subject of a Senate legislative amendment entitling Forest 
Service em




Sec. 912d. Certain conference reports considered as 
read.

  (c) Any  conference report and Senate amendment in disagreement which has 
been available as provided in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this clause 
shall be considered as having been read when called up for 
consideration.



  Paragraph (c) was added in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 
1979, pp. 7-16).



[[Page 729]]



Sec. 913a. Conferees may report germane 
modification of amendment in nature of substitute.

  3. Whenever a  disagreement to an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute has been committed to a 
conference committee it shall be in order for the Managers on the part 
of the House to propose a substitute which is a germane modification of 
the matter in disagreement, but the introduction of any language in that 
substitute presenting a specific additional topic, question, issue, or 
proposition not committed to the conference committee by either House 
shall not constitute a germane modification of the matter in 
disagreement. Moreover, their report shall not include matter not 
committed to the conference committee by either House, nor shall their 
report include a modification of any specific topic, question, issue, or 
proposition committed to the conference committee by either or both 
Houses if that modification is beyond the scope of that specific topic, 
question, issue, or proposition as so committed to the conference 
committee.


  This provision is derived from section 135(a) of the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812) and originally was made a part 
of the standing rules on January 3, 1953 (p. 24). The clause was revised 
on January 22, 1971 (p. 144) following the passage of the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1140) which carried a similar 
provision in section 125(b). Where one House strikes out of a bill of 
the other all after the enacting clause and inserts a new text, House 
managers, under the restrictions of this clause, may not agree to the 
deletion of certain language committed to conference if the effect of 
such deletion results in broadening the scope of the matter in 
disagreement (Dec. 14, 1971, pp. 46779-80). Where one House authorizes 
certain funds for a fiscal year and the other House authorizes a lesser 
amount for that year as well as additional funds for the subsequent 
year, and neither version contains an overall amount, House managers do 
not exceed their authority under this rule by including in the report 
the amount authorized by one House for the first year and the other 
House for the subsequent year, even though the total authorization 
resulting from this compromise exceeds that possible under either 
version (June 8, 1972, pp. 20281-82). Where a House version authorized 
endowment payments for certain colleges and the Senate version conferred 
land-grant college status on those institutions and contained a higher 
endowment figure, House conferees remained within their authority under 
this clause by accepting the Senate provision on land-grant status and 
the lower House figure for endowment payments (Speaker Albert, June 8, 
1972, pp. 20280-81). Where the House version of a bill contained 
provisions for local funding of merit schools, but neither version 
contained a provision for State funding, a motion to recommit to 
conference with instructions to provide State funding for merit schools 
was held to exceed the scope of the differences committed to conference 
(Sept. 30, 1992, p. ----).


[[Page 730]]
out in violation of this paragraph (Speaker O'Neill, Oct. 14, 1977, pp. 
33770-73).
  While the scope of differences committed to conference--where one 
House has amended an existing law and the other House has implicitly 
taken the position of existing law by remaining silent on the subject--
may properly be measured between those issues presented in the amending 
language and comparable provisions of existing law, the inclusion in a 
conference report of new matter not specifically contained in the 
amending version and not demonstrably contained in existing law may be 
ruled out as an additional issue not committed to conference in 
violation of this clause (Speaker Albert, Dec. 20, 1974, pp. 41849-50). 
Thus where one House has amended an existing law and the other House has 
implicitly taken the position of existing law by only authorizing sums 
for the purpose of existing law, the scope of differences committed to 
conference may be measured between issues presented in the amending 
language and relevant provisions of the existing law; but the inclusion 
in a conference report of requirements and issues incorporated into 
existing law which were not contained in either version and which are 
not repetitive of existing law may be ruled 

  A mere change in phraseology in a conference report (from language in 
either the House or Senate version) may be permitted to achieve 
legislative consistency where it is not shown that its effect is to 
broaden the scope of the language beyond the differences committed to 
conference, as where the report waives provisions of law for all 
programs in the bill and the House version waives those provisions for 
one section of the bill only (the Senate having no comparable provision) 
but the scope of programs covered by the report was co-extensive with 
those in the designated section of the House version (Speaker Albert, 
May 1, 1975, p. 12752). The conferees may include language clarifying 
and limiting the duties imposed on an official by one House's version 
where that modification does not expand the authority conferred in that 
version or contained in existing law (the position of the other House) 
(Speaker Albert, July 29, 1975, p. 25515) and may confer broader 
authority on an official than that contained in one House's version if 
such authority is co-extensive with the authority contained in existing 
law which the other House has retained (Speaker pro tempore McFall, Apr. 
13, 1976, p. 10803). Where the Senate version authorized citizen suits 
to enforce existing law except where Federal officials were pursuing 
enforcement proceedings and the House version, with no comparable 
provision, retained existing law which did not permit such suits, the 
conferees exceeded the scope of the differences by further prohibiting 
citizen suits where State officials were pursuing enforcement 
proceedings--a new exception allowing State pre-emption of citizen suits 
(Speaker pro tempore McFall, Sept. 27, 1976, p. 33019). A point of order 
was sustained against a motion to instruct conferees since directing the 
conferees to agree to matter violating this clause: the House bill 
created an energy trust fund composed of certain revenues to be 
distributed by subsequent legislation; the Senate amendment created a 
similar trust fund with suggested but not mandated distribution, and the 
motion directed House conferees to insist on a mandatory allocation of 
revenues in question among specified purposes, some of which were not 
addressed in the Senate amendment (Feb. 28, 1980, pp. 4304-05).


[[Page 731]]
report may not include a new topic or issue that, although germane, was 
not committed to conference by either House (Apr. 9, 1992, p. ----). For 
example, a motion to instruct conferees on a general appropriation bill 
may not instruct the conferees to include a funding limitation not 
contained in the House bill or Senate amendment (Sept. 13, 1994, p. ----
). Similarly, a motion to recommit a conference report may not instruct 
conferees to expand definitions to include classes not covered under the 
House bill or Senate amendment (Sept. 29, 1994, p. ----). Some latitude, 
however, remains to House managers to eliminate specific words or 
phrases contained in either version and add words or phrases not 
included in either version so long as they remain within the scope of 
the differences committed to conference and do not incorporate 
additional topics, issues, or propositions not committed to conference 
(Speaker Albert, Sept. 28, 1976, pp. 33020-23).

  Prior to the 1971 revision of this clause, where one House struck out 
of a bill of the other all after the enacting clause and inserted a new 
text, conferees could discard language occurring both in the bill and 
substitute (VIII, 3266) and exercise broad discretion in incorporating 
germane amendments (VIII, 3263-3265), even to the extent of reporting a 
new bill germane to the subject (V, 6421, 6423, 6424; VIII, 3248). But 
the present language of the rule prohibits the inclusion in a conference 
report or in a motion to instruct House conferees of additional topics 
not committed to conference by either House or beyond the scope of the 
differences committed to conference, and the precedents predating the 
adoption of this clause in 1971 must be read in light of the explicit 
restrictions now contained in the clause (Speaker pro tempore McFall, 
Sept. 27, 1976, pp. 32719-20); a conference 



Sec. 913b. Nongermane matter in conference 
agreements.

  4. (a) With  respect to any report of a committee of conference called 
up before the House containing any matter which would be in violation of 
the provisions of clause 7 of rule XVI if such matter had been offered 
as an amendment in the House, and which--


          (1) is contained in any Senate amendment to that measure 
(including a Senate amendment in the nature of a substitute for the text 
of that measure as passed by the House) accepted by the House conferees 
or agreed to by the conference committee with modification; or


[[Page 732]]
the point of order, is contained in the report. For the purposes of 
this clause, matter which--
          (2) is contained in any substitute agreed to by the conference 
committee;
it shall be in order, at any time after the reading of the report has 
been completed or dispensed with and before the reading of the 
statement, or immediately upon consideration of a conference report if 
clause 2(c) of this rule applies, to make a point of order that such 
nongermane matter, as described above, which shall be specified in 

          (A) is contained in any substitute agreed to by the conference 
committee;

          (B) is not proposed by the House to be included in the measure 
concerned as passed by the House; and

          (C) would be in violation of clause 7 of rule XVI if such 
matter had been offered in the House as an amendment to the provisions 
of that measure as so proposed in the form passed by the House;
shall be considered in violation of such clause 7.

  (b) If such point of order is sustained, it then shall be in order for 
the Chair to entertain a motion, which is of high privilege, that the 
House reject the nongermane matter covered by the point of order. It 
shall be in order to debate such motion for forty minutes, one-half of 
such time to be given to debate in favor of, and one-half in opposition 
to, the motion.


[[Page 733]]

  (c) Notwithstanding the final disposition of any point of order made 
under paragraph (a), or of any motion to reject made pursuant to a point 
of order under paragraph (b), of this clause, it shall be in order to 
make further points of order on the ground stated in such paragraph (a), 
and motions to reject pursuant thereto under such paragraph (b), with 
respect to other nongermane matter in the report of the committee of 
conference not covered by any previous point of order which has been 
sustained. 

  (d) If any such motion to reject has been adopted, after final 
disposition of all points of order and motions to reject under the 
preceding provisions of this clause, the conference report shall be 
considered as rejected and the question then pending before the House 
shall be--

          (1) whether to recede and concur in the Senate amendment with 
an amendment which shall consist of that portion of the conference 
report not rejected; or


          (2) if the last sentence of paragraph (a) of this clause 
applies, whether to insist further on the House amendment.
If all such motions to reject are defeated, then, after the allocation 
of time for debate on the conference report as provided in clause 2(a) 
of this rule, it shall be in order to move the previous question on the 
adoption of the conference report.

  The last sentence of clause 4(a) was added and clause 4(d) was amended 
on April 9, 1974 (H. Res. 998, 93d Cong., pp. 10195-99), to become 
effective on the thirtieth day after the adoption of the resolution, in 
order to make this clause applicable to provisions originally contained 
in Senate bills sent to conference, and not merely to Senate amendments 
to House bills in conference. The original clause 4 was included as part 
of the revision of rules XX and XXVIII that took place effective at the 
end of the 92d Congress (H. Res. 1153, Oct. 13, 1972, p. 36023). The 
same resolution repealed the existing clause 3 of rule XX, which had 
been enacted as part of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 to 
restrict the authority of House conferees to agree without prior 
permission of the House to Senate amendments that would violate clause 7 
of rule XVI if offered in the House. The clause was further amended in 
the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16) to provide that 
if the conference report is considered read under clause 2(c) of this 
rule, a point of order under this clause must be made immediately upon 
consideration of the conference report.


[[Page 734]]
of a Senate amendment in the nature of a substitute not germane to a 
House bill. If any motion to reject is adopted under this clause and the 
matter then pending before the House consists of numbered Senate 
amendments in disagreement, the pending question is whether to dispose 
of each Senate amendment not rejected as recommended in the conference 
report and to insist on disagreement to those amendments which have been 
rejected.
  The procedure provided in this clause was first utilized on September 
11, 1973 (pp. 29243-46), when the Chair sustained two points of order 
against portions of a conference report which were modifications of 
portions 

  Under paragraph (b) of this clause where a point of order against a 
portion of a conference report has been sustained under this clause, the 
Speaker will not entertain another point of order against the report or 
against another portion thereof until a motion to reject the portion 
held nongermane (if made) has been disposed of (Speaker Albert, Dec. 15, 
1975, p. 40671). The Member representing the conference committee in 
opposition to a motion to reject under this clause, and not the 
proponent of the motion, has the right to close debate thereon (Oct. 15, 
1986, p. 31502).

  Once a motion to reject a nongermane portion has been adopted by the 
House and the Speaker has recognized a Member to offer a motion 
comprising the pending question under this clause, the report is 
rejected and it is too late to make a point of order against the entire 
conference report under clause 3 of this rule (Speaker Albert, Dec. 15, 
1975, p. 40671).


  Where possible, the Speaker rules on points of order against 
conference reports which if sustained will vitiate the entire conference 
report (as under clause 3 of this rule or under the Congressional Budget 
Act) before entertaining points of order under this clause (Speaker 
Albert, Sept. 23, 1976, pp. 32099-32100).



Sec. 913c. Nongermane matter in amendments in 
disagreement.

  5. (a)(1) With  respect to any amendment (including an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute) which--


          (A) is proposed by the Senate to any measure and thereafter--

              (i) is reported in disagreement between the two Houses by 
a committee of conference; or

              (ii) is before the House, the stage of disagreement having 
been reached; and


[[Page 735]]

it shall be in order, immediately after a motion is offered that the 
House recede from its disagreement to such amendment proposed by the 
Senate and concur therein and before debate is commenced on such motion, 
to make a point of order that such nongermane matter, as described 
above, which shall be specified in the point of order, is contained in 
such amendment proposed by the Senate.
          (B) contains any matter which would be in violation of the 
provisions of clause 7 of rule XVI if such matter had been offered as an 
amendment in the House; 

  (2) If such point of order is sustained, it then shall be in order for 
the Chair to entertain a motion, which is of high privilege, that the 
House reject the nongermane matter covered by the point of order. It 
shall be in order to debate such motion for forty minutes, one-half of 
such time to be given to debate in favor of, and one-half in opposition 
to, the motion.

  (3) Notwithstanding the final disposition of any point of order made 
under subparagraph (1), or of any motion to reject made pursuant to a 
point of order under subparagraph (2), of this paragraph, it shall be in 
order to make further points of order on the ground stated in such 
subparagraph (1), and motions to reject pursuant thereto under such 
subparagraph (2), with respect to other nongermane matter in the 
amendment proposed by the Senate not covered by any previous point of 
order which has been sustained.


[[Page 736]]
and concur shall be considered as rejected, and further motions--
  (4) If any such motion to reject has been adopted, after final 
disposition of all points of order and motions to reject under the 
preceding provisions of this clause, the motion to recede 

          (A) to recede and concur in the Senate amendment with an 
amendment, where appropriate (but the offering of which is not in order 
unless copies of the language of the Senate amendment, as proposed to be 
amended by such motion, are then available on the floor when such motion 
is offered and is under consideration);

          (B) to insist upon disagreement to the Senate amendment and 
request a further conference with the Senate; and

          (C) to insist upon disagreement to the Senate amendment;
shall remain of high privilege for consideration by the House. If all 
such motions to reject are defeated, then, after the allocation of time 
for debate on the motion to recede and concur as provided in clause 2(b) 
of this rule, it shall be in order to move the previous question on such 
motion.


[[Page 737]]

  (b)(1) With respect to any such amendment proposed by the Senate as 
described in paragraph (a) of this clause, it shall not be in order to 
offer any motion that the House recede from its disagreement to such 
Senate amendment and concur therein with an amendment, unless copies of 
the language of the Senate amendment, as proposed to be amended by such 
motion, are then available on the floor when such motion is offered and 
is under consideration. 

  (2) Immediately after any such motion is offered and is in order and 
before debate is commenced on such motion, it shall be in order to make 
a point of order that nongermane matter, as described in subparagraph 
(1) of paragraph (a) of this clause, which shall be specified in the 
point of order, is contained in the language of the Senate amendment, as 
proposed to be amended by such motion, copies of which are then 
available on the floor.

  (3) If such point of order is sustained, it then shall be in order for 
the Chair to entertain a motion, which is of high privilege, that the 
House reject the nongermane matter covered by the point of order. It 
shall be in order to debate such motion for forty minutes, one-half of 
such time to be given to debate in favor of, and one-half in opposition 
to, the motion.


[[Page 738]]

  (4) Notwithstanding the final disposition of any point of order under 
subparagraph (2), or of any motion to reject made pursuant to a point of 
order under subparagraph (3), of this paragraph, it shall be in order to 
make further points of order on the ground stated in subparagraph (1) of 
paragraph (a) of this clause, and motions to reject pursuant thereto 
under subparagraph (3) of this paragraph, with respect to other 
nongermane matter in the language of the Senate amendment, as proposed 
to be amended by the motion described in subparagraph (1) of this 
paragraph, not covered by any previous point of order which has been 
sustained. 

  (5) If any such motion to reject has been adopted, after final 
disposition of all points of order and motions to reject under the 
preceding provisions of this paragraph, the motion to recede and concur 
in the Senate amendment with an amendment shall be considered as 
rejected, and further motions--

          (A) to recede and concur in the Senate amendment with an 
amendment, where appropriate (but the offering of which is not in order 
unless copies of the language of the Senate amendment, as proposed to be 
amended by such motion, are then available on the floor when such motion 
is offered and is under consideration);

          (B) to insist upon disagreement to the Senate amendment and 
request a further conference with the Senate; and

          (C) to insist upon disagreement to the Senate amendment;
shall remain of high privilege for consideration by the House. If all 
such motions to reject are defeated, then, after the allocation of time 
for debate on the motion to recede and concur in the Senate amendment 
with an amendment as provided in clause 2(b) of this rule, it shall be 
in order to move the previous question on such motion.


[[Page 739]]
fore debate is commenced on concurring in such Senate amendment, or on 
concurring therein with an amendment, it shall be in order to make and 
dispose of points of order and motions to reject with respect to such 
Senate amendment in accordance with applicable provisions of this clause 
and to effect final determination of these matters in accordance with 
such provisions.

  (c) If, on a division of a motion that the House recede and concur, 
with or without amendment, from its disagreement to any such Senate 
amendment as described in paragraph (a)(1) of this clause, the House 
agrees to recede, then, be


  This clause was added on April 9, 1974 (H. Res. 998, 93d Cong., pp. 
10195-99) which deleted from clause 1 of rule XX and transferred to this 
clause the procedures concerning disposition of Senate non-germane 
amendments. Clause 5(b) was first utilized on July 31, 1974, p. 26083, 
when the Chair sustained a point of order against a portion of a motion 
to recede and concur in a Senate amendment (reported from conference in 
disagreement) with a further amendment, on the ground that that portion 
of the Senate amendment contained in the motion was not germane to the 
House-passed measure, and a motion rejecting that portion of the motion 
to recede and concur with an amendment was offered and defeated. Clause 
5(b) is not applicable to a provision contained in a motion to recede 
and concur with an amendment which was not contained in any form in the 
Senate version and which is not therefore a modification of the Senate 
provision, the only requirement in such circumstances being that the 
motion as a whole be germane to the Senate amendment as a whole under 
clause 7 of rule XVI (Speaker pro tempore Kazen, Oct. 4, 1978, p. 33502; 
June 30, 1987, p. 18294). A point of order under clause 5 of rule XXI 
(appropriations on a legislative bill) against a motion to dispose of a 
Senate amendment in disagreement which, if sustained, would vitiate the 
entire motion, must be disposed of prior to a point of order under this 
clause which, if sustained, would merely permit a separate vote on 
rejection of that portion of the motion (Oct. 1, 1980, pp. 28638-42).



Sec. 913d. Open conference meetings.

  6. (a) Each  conference 
committee meeting between the House and Senate shall be open to the 
public except when the House, in open session, has determined by a 
rollcall vote of a majority of those Members voting that all or part of 
the meeting shall be closed to the public.



[[Page 740]]
diately upon consideration of a conference report if clause 2(c) of 
this rule applies, a point of order may be made that the committee of 
conference making the report to the House has failed to comply with 
paragraph (a) of this clause.
  (b)(1) After the reading of the report and before the reading of the 
joint statement, or imme


  (2) If such point of order is sustained, the conference report shall 
be considered as rejected, the House shall be considered to have 
insisted upon its amendment(s) or upon disagreement to the amendment(s) 
of the Senate, as the case may be, and to have requested a further 
conference with the Senate, and the Speaker shall be authorized to 
appoint new conferees without intervening motion.

  This clause as originally added to rule XXVIII on January 14, 1975 (H. 
Res. 5, 94th Cong., p. 20) provided that conference committee meetings 
be open except where a majority of the managers of the House or Senate 
voted to close the meeting, and provided that the clause not become 
effective until the Senate adopted a similar rule. The Senate adopted an 
identical rule on November 5, 1975, p. 35203. The clause was 
substantially changed on January 4, 1977 (H. Res. 5, 95th Cong., pp. 53-
70) to require that conference meetings be open except where the House 
by rollcall vote determines that a meeting may be closed, to allow a 
point of order against a conference report where the conferees have 
violated this clause, and to provide for subsequent disposition of the 
matter reported from conference should such a point of order be 
sustained, and was further amended in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 
5, 1979, pp. 7-16) to provide that if the conference report is 
considered read under clause 2(c) of this rule, a point of order under 
this clause must be made immediately upon consideration of the 
conference report.


[[Page 741]]
ment, the conference report is subject to a point of order under this 
clause resulting in an automatic request for a further conference (Dec. 
20, 1982, p. 32896). Although a motion to close a conference committee 
meeting ``to the public'' would, under the precedents (see V, 6254, 
fn.), exclude Members who were not conferees, a motion may be offered as 
privileged under this clause to authorize a conference committee to 
close its meetings to the public, except to Members of Congress (Speaker 
O'Neill, May 23, 1977, pp. 15880-84).
  At any time after a bill has been sent to conference and conferees 
have been appointed by the Speaker, a motion pursuant to this clause 
authorizing a conference committee to close its meetings to the public 
is privileged for consideration in the House, is debatable for one hour 
within the control of the Member offering the motion, and must be voted 
on by a rollcall vote (Speaker O'Neill, May 23, 1977, pp. 15880-84; Apr. 
13, 1978, p. 10128). While the Chair does not normally look behind 
signatures of conferees to determine the propriety of conference 
procedure, if proposed conferees have signed a conference report before 
they have been formally appointed in both Houses and do not meet 
formally in open session after such appoint





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  Clause 11 of rule XLVIII, adopted on July 14, 1977 (H. Res. 658, pp. 
22932-49), provides that this paragraph does not apply to conference 
committee meetings respecting legislation (or any part thereof) reported 
from the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.


                               Rule XXIX.


                             SECRET SESSION.




Sec. 914. Secret session of the 
House.

  Whenever confidential  communications are received from the President of the United 
States, or whenever the Speaker or any Member shall inform the House 
that he has communications which he believes ought to be kept secret for 
the present, the House shall be cleared of all persons except the 
Members and officers thereof, and so continue during the reading of such 
communications, the debates and proceedings thereon, unless otherwise 
ordered by the House.


  This rule, in a somewhat different form, was adopted in 1792, although 
secret sessions had been held by the House before that date. They 
continued to be held at times with considerable frequency until 1830. In 
1880, at the time of the general revision of the rules, the House 
concluded to retain the rule, although it had been long in disuse (V, 
7247; VI, 434).

  The two Houses have legislated in secret session, transmitting their 
messages also in secrecy (V, 7250); but the House has declined to be 
bound to secrecy by act of the Senate (V, 7249). Motions to remove the 
injunction of secrecy should be made with closed doors (V, 7254). In 
1843 a confidential message from the President was referred without 
reading; but no motion was made for a secret session (V, 7255).


[[Page 742]]
addressed to the Speaker and not to the Chairman of the Committee of 
the Whole (May 9, 1950, p. 6746; June 6, 1978, p. 16376; June 20, 1979, 
pp. 15710-11). A Member seeking to offer the motion that the House 
resolve itself into secret session must qualify, as provided by the 
rule, by asserting that he himself has a secret communication to make to 
the House (June 6, 1978, p. 16376).
  The House and not the Committee of the Whole determines whether the 
Committee may sit in executive session, and an inquiry relative to 
whether the Committee of the Whole should sit in secret session is 
properly 

  On June 20, 1979, the House adopted by voice vote a motion that the 
House resolve itself into secret session pursuant to this rule (the 
first such occasion since 1830), where the Member offering the motion 
had ensured the Speaker that he had confidential communications to make 
to the House as required by the rule (Speaker pro tempore Wright, pp. 
15711-13). The Speaker pro tempore announced on that occasion before the 
commencement of the secret session that the galleries would be cleared 
of all persons, that the Chamber would be cleared of all persons except 
Members and those officers and employees specified by the Speaker whose 
attendance was essential to the functioning of the secret session, who 
would be required to sign an oath of secrecy, and that all proceedings 
in the secret session must be kept secret until otherwise ordered by the 
House (June 20, 1979, pp. 15711-13). Where the House has concluded a 
secret session and has not voted to release the transcripts of that 
session, the injunction of secrecy remains and the Speaker may 
informally refer the transcripts to appropriate committees for their 
evaluation and report to the House as to ultimate disposition to be made 
(June 20, 1979, pp. 15711-13).

  The following procedures apply during a secret session. The motion for 
a secret session is not debatable. The Member who offers the motion may 
be recognized for one hour of debate after the House resolves into 
secret session, and the normal rules of debate, including the principle 
that no motions would be in order unless he yields for that purpose, 
apply. The Speaker having found that a Member has qualified to make the 
motion for a secret session, having confidential communications to make, 
no point of order lies that the material in question must be submitted 
to the Members to make that determination (the motion for a secret 
session having been adopted by the House). No point of order lies in 
secret session that employees designated by the Speaker as essential to 
the proceedings, who have signed an oath of secrecy, may not be present. 
A motion in secret session to make public the proceedings therein is 
debatable for one hour, within narrow limits of relevancy. At the 
conclusion of debate in secret session, a Member may be recognized to 
offer a motion that the session be dissolved (July 17, 1979, pp. 19057-
59).


[[Page 743]]
he has confidential communications to make to the House, and since the 
Speaker was aware that the Committee with possession of the materials 
had authorized those materials to be used in a secret session (Feb. 25, 
1980, pp. 3618-19). Another secret session was held in the 98th Congress 
pending consideration of a bill amending the Intelligence Authorization 
Act to prohibit U.S. support for military or paramilitary operations in 
Nicaragua (July 19, 1983, p. 19776).
  The House conducted another secret session in the 96th Congress to 
receive confidential communications consisting of classified information 
in the possession of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Permanent 
Select Committee on Intelligence, which those committees had authorized 
to be used in a secret session of the House if ordered; on that occasion 
the Speaker overruled a point of order against the motion for a secret 
session since the Speaker must rely on the assurance of a Member that 





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  The House may subsequently by unanimous consent order printed in the 
Congressional Record proceedings in secret session, with appropriate 
deletions and revisions agreeable to the Committees to which the secret 
transcript has been referred for review (July 17, 1979, p. 19049).


                                Rule XXX.


                            USE OF EXHIBITS.




Sec. 915. Objections to use of exhibits.

  When the  use of any 
exhibit in debate is objected to by any Member, it shall be determined 
without debate by a vote of the House.


  This rule was rewritten in the 103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, 
p. ----) to address the use of exhibits in debate rather than the 
reading from papers.


[[Page 744]]



Sec. 916. History of former rule on reading of 
papers.

  The earlier  form of the rule, originally adopted in 1794 and amended in 
1802 and 1880 (V, 5257), addressed reading from papers. It recognized 
the right of a Member under the general parliamentary law to have read 
the paper on which the House is to vote (V, 5258), but when that paper 
had been read once, the reading could not be repeated unless by order of 
the House (V, 5260). The right could be abrogated by suspension of the 
rules (V, 5278-5284; VIII, 3400); but was not abrogated simply by the 
fact that the current procedure was taking place under the rule for 
suspension (V, 5273-5277). On a motion to refer a report, the reading of 
it could be demanded as a matter of right, but the latest ruling left to 
the House to determine whether or not an accompanying record of 
testimony should be read (V, 5261, 5262). In general the reading of a 
report was held to be in the nature of debate (V, 5292); but where a 
report presents facts and conclusions but no legislative proposition it 
is read if submitted for action (IV, 4663). Where a paper is offered as 
involving a matter of privilege it may be read to the House (III, 2597; 
VI, 606; VIII, 2599), rather than by the Speaker privately (III, 2546), 
but a Member may not, as a matter of right, require the reading of a 
book or paper on suggestion that it contains matter infringing on the 
privileges of the House (V, 5258). 


  The former rule prohibiting the reading of papers in debate was held 
to apply to the exhibition of articles as evidence or in exemplification 
in debate (VIII, 2452, 2453; June 2, 1937, pp. 6104-05; Aug. 5, 1949, p. 
10859), and the new form of the rule adopted in the 103d Congress (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----) marks the modern relevance of that 
application. While Members may use exhibits such as charts during debate 
subject to this rule, the Speaker may, pursuant to his authority to 
preserve order and decorum under rule I (see Sec. 622, supra), direct 
the removal of a chart from the well of the House which is not being 
utilized during debate (Apr. 1, 1982, p. 6304), or which is otherwise 
disruptive of decorum.





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[DOCID:hrmanual-115]

 


Sec. 917. Earlier practice.

  The reading  of papers other than 
the one on which the vote was about to be taken was usually permitted 
without question (V, 5258), and the Member in debate usually read such 
papers as he pleased, but this privilege was subject to the authority of 
the House if another Member objected (V, 5285-5288, 5289-5291; VIII, 
2597, 2602; Dec. 19, 1974, p. 41425; Dec. 10, 1987, p. 34669). This 
principle applied even to the Member's own written speech (V, 5258; 
VIII, 2598), to a report which he proposed to have read in his own time 
or to read in his place (V, 5293), and to excerpts from the 
Congressional Record (VIII, 2597). But, on a motion to lay on the table, 
a demand for the reading of a paper other than the one to which the 
motion applied was overruled (V, 5297); and after the previous question 
were ordered a Member could not ask the decision of the House as to the 
reading of a paper not before the House for action (V, 5296), even 
though it be the report of the committee (V, 5294, 5295). For further 
discussion, see Secs. 432-436, supra. The consent of the House 
pursuant to the former form of this rule for a Member to read a paper in 
debate only permitted the Member seeking such permission to read as much 
of the paper as possible in the time yielded or allotted to that Member, 
and did not necessarily grant permission to read or to insert the entire 
document (Mar. 1, 1979, p. 3748). Where a Member objected to another's 
reading from a paper the Chair put the question without debate, and it 
was not in order under the guise of parliamentary inquiry to debate that 
question by indicating that the objection was a dilatory tactic (Dec. 
10, 1987, p. 34672).



                               Rule XXXI.


                           HALL OF THE HOUSE.


[[Page 745]]
ceremonies to be observed therein; and the Speaker shall not entertain 
a motion for the suspension of this rule.



Sec. 918. Use of the Hall of the House.

  The Hall  of the 
House shall be used only for the legislative business of the House and 
for the caucus meetings of its Members, except upon occasions where the 
House by resolution agrees to take part in any 






[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 745-749]
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[DOCID:hrmanual-116]

 
  Rules relating to the use of the Hall were adopted as early as 1804. 
The present form of the rule dates from 1880 (V, 7270). It was 
renumbered January 3, 1953, p. 24.


                               Rule XXXII.


                       OF ADMISSION TO THE FLOOR.


[[Page 746]]
ness from their committee is under consideration and not more than one 
person from a Member's staff when that Member has an amendment under 
consideration, subject to the provisions of clause 4 of this rule; and 
one attorney to accompany any Member who is the respondent in an 
investigation undertaken by the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct when the recommendation of such committee is under 
consideration; and it shall not be in order for the Speaker to entertain 
a request for the suspension of this rule or to present from the chair 
the request of any Member for unanimous consent.



Sec. 919. Persons and officials admitted to the 
floor during sessions of the House.

  1. The persons  hereinafter named, and none other, 
shall be admitted to the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto, 
viz: The President and Vice President of the United States and their 
private secretaries, judges of the Supreme Court, Members of Congress 
and Members-elect, contestants in election cases during the pendency of 
their cases in the House, the Secretary and Sergeant-at-Arms of the 
Senate, heads of departments, foreign ministers, governors of States, 
the Architect of the Capitol, the Librarian of Congress and his 
assistant in charge of the Law Library, the Resident Commissioner to the 
United States from Puerto Rico, each Delegate to the House, such persons 
as have, by name, received the thanks of Congress, the Parliamentarian, 
elected officers and elected minority employees of the House (other than 
Members); and ex-Members of the House of Representatives, former 
Parliamentarians of the House, and former elected officers and elected 
minority employees of the House, subject to the provisions of clause 3 
of this rule; and clerks of committees when busi


  This rule was subjected to many changes from 1802 until 1880 (V, 7823; 
VIII, 3634), was renumbered in the 83d Congress (Jan. 3, 1953, p. 24), 
and was substantially amended in the 94th Congress (H. Res. 1435, Oct. 
1, 1976, pp. 35175-80). The latter amendment to the rule changed clause 
1 and added clause 3 to clarify the conditions under which former 
Members, officers and employees were entitled to admission to the floor. 
Clause 1 was amended by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 to permit floor 
privileges for one attorney for a Member-respondent during consideration 
of a disciplinary resolution (P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989).

  The portion of this clause which permits clerks of committees access 
to the floor during the consideration of business from their committee 
has been interpreted by the Speaker to allow four professional staff 
members and one clerk on the floor at one time (Speaker Albert, June 8, 
1972, p. 20318; Speaker O'Neill, Jan. 26, 1977, p. 2333). The 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, section 503(3) (84 Stat. 1140, 
1202; 2 U.S.C. 281b(3)) also allows two staff members of the Legislative 
Counsel access to the floor to assist the committee.


[[Page 747]]

  The rule was amended in the 92d Congress to include the Delegate from 
the District of Columbia among those having the privilege of the floor 
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144), and later in that same Congress was 
again revised to permit all Delegates to enjoy the privilege (H. Res. 
1153, Oct. 13, 1972, pp. 36021-23). The latter revision was necessary 
because of the enactment of Public Law 92-271, which created the 
positions of Delegate from Guam and Delegate from the Virgin Islands. 
Officers and elected employees, both present and former, were given 
floor privileges by the adoption of this same resolution (H. Res. 1153, 
92d Cong.) but had in fact, by custom, been permitted on the floor prior 
to this change in the rule. 

  The portion of the rule forbidding the Speaker to entertain requests 
for suspension of the rule applies also to the Chairman of the Committee 
of the Whole (V, 7285). ``Heads of departments'' means members of the 
President's Cabinet, and not subordinate executive officers, and 
``foreign ministers'' means ministers from foreign governments only. 
``Governors of States'' does not include governors of Territories (V, 
7283; VIII, 3634).


  An alleged violation of the rule relating to admission to the floor 
presents a question of privilege (III, 2624, 2625; VI, 579), but not a 
higher question of privilege than an election case (III, 2626). In one 
case where an ex-Member was abusing the privilege, he was excluded by 
direction of the Speaker (V, 7288), but in another case the Speaker 
declared it a matter for the House and not the Chair to consider (V, 
7286). In one case an alleged abuse was inquired into by a select 
committee (V, 7287). Former Members of the House do not have the 
privilege of the Hall of the House nor rooms leading thereto when they 
are personally interested in legislation being considered or who are in 
the employ of an organization that is interested in legislation before 
the Congress (Speaker Rayburn, Oct. 2, 1945, p. 9251). While former 
Members of Congress are entitled to the privilege of the floor they may 
not manifest approval or disapproval of the proceedings (VIII, 3635). 
The Speaker announced his intention to strictly enforce the rule to 
prevent a proliferation of committee and other staff on the floor (Aug. 
22, 1974, p. 30027; Jan. 19, 1981, p. 402; Jan. 25, 1983, p. 224). The 
Speaker announced that committee staff would be required to display 
staff badges on the floor in exchange for identification cards prior to 
admission to the floor (Speaker O'Neill, Jan. 21, 1986, p. 5; Jan. 5, 
1993, p. ----). It is not in order to refer to persons temporarily on 
the floor of the House as guests of the House, such as Members' children 
(Apr. 28, 1994, p. ----), other children (May 18, 1995, p. ----), or 
Senators exercising floor privileges (May 18, 1995, p. ----).




Sec. 920. Admission to the floor when the House 
is not sitting.

  2. There shall  be excluded at all times from the Hall of the House of 
Representatives and the cloakrooms all persons not entitled to the 
privilege of the floor during the session, except that until fifteen 
minutes of the hour of the meeting of the House persons employed in its 
service, accredited members of the press entitled to admission to the 
press gallery, and other persons on request of Members, by card or in 
writing, may be admitted.




[[Page 748]]

  This clause was adopted in 1902 (V, 7346).




Sec. 921a. Former Members and officers.

  3. Ex-Members of  the House of Representatives, former Parliamentarians of the House, 
and former elected officers and former elected minority employees of the 
House, shall be entitled to the privilege of admission to the Hall of 
the House and rooms leading thereto only if they do not have any direct 
personal or pecuniary interest in any legislative measure pending before 
the House or reported by any committee of the House and only if they are 
not in the employ of, or do not represent, any party or organization for 
the purpose of influencing, directly or indirectly, the passage, defeat 
or amendment of any legislative measure pending before the House, 
reported by any committee of the House or under consideration in any of 
its committees or subcommittees. The Speaker shall promulgate such 
regulations as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this rule 
and to ensure its enforcement.


  This clause was added in the 94th Congress (H. Res. 1435, Oct. 1, 
1976, pp. 35175-80) to consolidate in one clause and to clarify the 
restrictions on admittance to the floor of former Members, officers and 
employees and to give the Speaker the power to promulgate regulations to 
enforce the rule. Pursuant to this authority, the Speaker issued 
regulations addressing former Members (Jan. 6, 1977, p. 321) and 
committee staff (Jan. 26, 1977, p. 2333).


[[Page 749]]
and has construed the latter phrase to include the Speaker's Lobby and 
the cloakrooms (Speaker Gingrich, May 24, 1995, p. ----).

  A former Member is not entitled to the privileges of the floor under 
this clause if he (1) has a direct personal or pecuniary interest in 
legislation under consideration in the House or reported by any 
committee, or (2) represents any party or organization for the purpose 
of influencing the disposition of legislation pending before the House, 
reported by any committee or under consideration in any committee or 
subcommittee (Speaker pro tempore Brademas, June 7, 1978, p. 16625). The 
essence of the rule is the former Member's status as one with a personal 
or pecuniary interest and not whether the former Member may have a 
present intent to lobby (Speaker Foley, June 9, 1994, p. ----). The 
Speaker has emphasized that the rule applies not only to the floor but 
also to ``rooms leading thereto,'' 




Sec. 921b. Members' staff.

  4. Persons from  Member's staffs 
admitted to the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto under clause 
1 shall be admitted only upon prior notification to the Speaker. No such 
person or clerk of a committee so admitted under clause 1 shall engage 
in efforts in the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto to 
influence Members with regard to the legislation being amended. Such 
persons and clerks shall remain at the desk and are admitted only to 
advise the Member or committee responsible for their admission. Any such 
person or clerk who violates this clause may be excluded during the 
session from the Hall of the House and rooms leading thereto by the 
Speaker.








[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 750]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-117]

[[Page 750]]

 
  This final clause of the rule was added in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 
5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70) to extend the privilege of the floor to one 
person from the staff of a Member who has an amendment under 
consideration, but not of a measure's sponsor or during special order 
speeches. The Speaker promulgated regulations for the implementation of 
this clause on January 26, 1977 (p. 2333). In the 97th Congress, the 
Speaker announced that personal staff of Members did not have the 
privilege of the floor and that committee staff, permitted on the floor 
when business from their committees is under consideration, were 
required to remain unobtrusively by the committee tables (Aug. 18, 1982, 
p. 21934). Staff permitted on the floor under clause 4 are not permitted 
to pass out literature or otherwise attempt to influence Members in 
their votes (Aug. 1, 1990, p. ----) and may not applaud during debate 
(June 15, 1995, p. ----). 


                              Rule XXXIII.


                     OF ADMISSION TO THE GALLERIES.




Sec. 922. The various galleries and admission 
thereto.

  The Speaker  shall set aside a portion of the west gallery for the use of 
the President of the United States, the members of his Cabinet, justices 
of the Supreme Court, foreign ministers and suites, and the members of 
their respective families, and shall also set aside another portion of 
the same gallery for the accommodation of persons to be admitted on the 
card of Members. The southerly half of the east gallery shall be 
assigned exclusively for the use of the families of Members of Congress, 
in which the Speaker shall control one bench, and on request of a Member 
the Speaker shall issue a card of admission to his family, which shall 
include their visitors, and no other person shall be admitted to this 
section.


  This rule was adopted in 1880 (V, 7302). It was renumbered January 3, 
1953, p. 24.





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 750-761]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-118]

 
  On special occasions the House sometimes makes a special rule for 
admission to the galleries (V, 7303), as on the occasion of the 
electoral count (III, 1961), of an address by the President, and of 
public funerals.


                               Rule XXXIV.


                      OFFICIAL AND OTHER REPORTERS.


[[Page 751]]
subject to the direction and control of the Speaker.



Sec. 923. Reporters of debates and 
committee stenographers.

  1. The appointment  and removal, for cause, of the official 
reporters of the House, including stenographers of committees, and the 
manner of the execution of their duties shall be vested in the Clerk, 


  From 1874 until March 1, 1978, the appointment and removal of the 
official reporters, and the manner of the execution of their duties, was 
vested in the Speaker (V, 6958); effective March 1, 1978 (H. Res. 959, 
Jan. 23, 1978, p. 431) those responsibilities were vested in the Clerk, 
subject to the direction and control of the Speaker.

  The reporters of debates have borne an important part in the evolution 
by which the House has built up the system of a daily verbatim report of 
its proceedings, made by its own corps of reporters (V, 6959). Since 
these reporters have become officers of the House a correction of the 
Congressional Record has been held a question of privilege (V, 7014-
7016).




Sec. 924. Rules relating to Congressional 
Record.

  The  arrangement, style, etc., of the Congressional Record is 
prescribed by the Joint Committee on Printing pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 901, 
904 (see also VIII, 3500). The rules of the Joint Committee on Printing 
governing publication of the Congressional Record are as follows:


  1. Arrangement of the daily Congressional Record.--The Public Printer 
shall arrange the contents of the daily Congressional Record as follows: 
The Senate proceedings shall alternate with the House proceedings in 
order of placement in consecutive issues insofar as such an arrangement 
is feasible, and Extensions of Remarks and Daily Digest shall follow: 
Provided, That the makeup of the Congressional Record shall proceed 
without regard to alternation whenever the Public Printer deems it 
necessary in order to meet production and delivery schedules.

  2. Type and style.--The Public Printer shall print the report of the 
proceedings and debates of the Senate and House of Representatives, as 
furnished by the official reporters of the Congressional Record, in 8-
point type; and all matter included in the remarks or speeches of 
Members of Congress, other than their own words, and all reports, 
documents, and other matter authorized to be inserted in the 
Congressional Record shall be printed in 7-point type; and all roll 
calls shall be printed in 6-point type. No italic or black type nor 
words in capitals or small capitals shall be used for emphasis or 
prominence; nor will unusual indentions be permitted. These restrictions 
do not apply to the printing of or quotations from historical, official, 
or legal documents or papers of which a literal reproduction is 
necessary.

  3. Only as an aid in distinguishing the manner of delivery in order to 
contribute to the historical accuracy of the Record, statements or 
insertions in the Record where no part of them was spoken will be 
preceded and followed by a ``bullet'' symbol, i.e.,  (now 
applicable only in Senate).


[[Page 752]]
not furnished at the time specified, the Public Printer is authorized 
to withhold it from the Congressional Record for 1 day. In no case will 
a speech be printed in the Congressional Record of the day of its 
delivery if the manuscript is furnished later than 12 o'clock midnight.
  4. Return of manuscript.--When manuscript is submitted to Members for 
revision it should be returned to the Government Printing Office not 
later than 9 o'clock p.m. in order to insure publication in the 
Congressional Record issued on the following morning; and if all of the 
manuscript is 

  5. Tabular matter.--The manuscript of speeches containing tabular 
statements to be published in the Congressional Record shall be in the 
hands of the Public Printer not later than 7 o'clock p.m. to insure 
publication the following morning. When possible, manuscript copy for 
tabular matter should be sent to the Government Printing Office 2 or 
more days in advance of the date of publication in the Congressional 
Record. Proof will be furnished promptly to the Member of Congress to be 
submitted by him instead of manuscript copy when he offers it for 
publication in the Congressional Record.

  6. Proof furnished.--Proofs or ``leave to print'' and advance speeches 
will not be furnished the day the manuscript is received but will be 
submitted the following day, whenever possible to do so without causing 
delay in the publication of the regular proceedings of Congress. Advance 
speeches shall be set in the Congressional Record style of type, and not 
more than six sets of proofs may be furnished to Members without charge.

  7. Notation of withheld remarks.--If manuscript or proofs have not 
been returned in time for publication in the proceedings, the Public 
Printer will insert the words ``Mr. ---- addressed the Senate (House or 
Committee). His remarks will appear hereafter in Extensions of Remarks'' 
and proceed with the printing of the Congressional Record.

  8. Thirty-day limit.--The Public Printer shall not publish in the 
Congressional Record any speech or extension of remarks which has been 
withheld for a period exceeding 30 calendar days from the date when its 
printing was authorized: Provided, That at the expiration of each 
session of Congress the time limit herein fixed shall be 10 days, unless 
otherwise ordered by the committee.

  9. Corrections.--The permanent Congressional Record is made up for 
printing and binding 30 days after each daily publication is issued; 
therefore all corrections must be sent to the Public Printer within that 
time: Provided, That upon the final adjournment of each session of 
Congress the time limit shall be 10 days, unless otherwise ordered by 
the committee: Provided further, That no Member of Congress shall be 
entitled to make more than one revision. Any revision shall consist only 
of corrections of the original copy and shall not include deletions of 
correct material, substitutions for correct material, or additions of 
new subject matter.


[[Page 753]]

  10. The Public Printer shall not publish in the Congressional Record 
the full report or print of any committee or subcommittee when the 
report or print has been previously printed. This rule shall not be 
construed to apply to conference reports. However, inasmuch as [rule 
XXVIII; see Sec. 912, supra] provides that conference reports be printed 
in the daily edition of the Congressional Record, they shall not be 
printed therein a second time. 

  11. Makeup of the Extensions of Remarks.--Extensions of Remarks in the 
Congressional Record shall be made up by successively taking first an 
extension from the copy submitted by the official reporters of one House 
and then an extension from the copy of the other House, so that Senate 
and House extensions appear alternately as far as possible. The sequence 
for each House shall follow as closely as possible the order or 
arrangement in which the copy comes from the official reporters of the 
respective Houses.

  The official reporters of each House shall designate and distinctly 
mark the lead item among their extensions. When both Houses are in 
session and submit extensions, the lead item shall be changed from one 
House to the other in alternate issues, with the indicated lead item of 
the other House appearing in second place. When only one House is in 
session, the lead item shall be an extension submitted by a Member of 
the House in session. This rule shall not apply to Congressional Records 
printed after the sine die adjournment of the Congress.

  12. Official reporters.--The official reporters of each House shall 
indicate on the manuscript and prepare headings for all matter to be 
printed in Extensions of Remarks and shall make suitable reference 
thereto at the proper place in the proceedings.


  13. Two-page rule--Cost estimate from Public Printer.--(1) No 
extraneous matter in excess of two printed Record pages, whether printed 
in its entirety in one daily issue or in two or more parts in one or 
more issues, shall be printed in the Congressional Record unless the 
Member announces, coincident with the request for leave to print or 
extend, the estimate in writing from the Public Printer of the probable 
cost of publishing the same. (2) No extraneous matter shall be printed 
in the House proceedings or the Senate proceedings, with the following 
exceptions: (a) Excerpts from letters, telegrams, or articles presented 
in connection with a speech delivered in the course of debate; (b) 
communications from State legislatures; (c) addresses or articles by the 
President and the Members of his Cabinet, the Vice President, or a 
Member of Congress. (3) The official reporters of the House or Senate or 
the Public Printer shall return to the Member of the respective House 
any matter submitted for the Congressional Record which is in 
contravention of these provisions.

      house supplement to ``laws and rules for publication of the 


            congressional record''--effective august 12, 1986


[[Page 754]]
words. Statements exceeding this will be printed following the business 
of the day.
  1. Extensions of Remarks in the daily Congressional Record.--When the 
House has granted leave to print (1) a newspaper or magazine article, or 
(2) any other matter not germane to the proceedings, it shall be 
published under Extensions of Remarks. This rule shall not apply to 
quotations which form part of a speech of a Member, or to an authorized 
extension of his own remarks: Provided, That no address, speech, or 
article delivered or released subsequently to the sine die adjournment 
of a session of Congress may be printed in the Congressional Record. 
One-minute speeches delivered during the morning business of Congress 
shall not exceed 300 

  2. Any extraneous matter included in any statement by a Member, either 
under the 1-minute rule or permission granted to extend at this point, 
will be printed in the ``Extensions of Remarks'' section, and that such 
material will be duly noted in the Member's statement as appearing 
therein.

  3. Under the general leave request by the floor manager of specific 
legislation only matter pertaining to such legislation will be included 
as per the request. This, of course, will include tables and charts 
pertinent to the same, but not newspaper clippings and editorials.

  4. In the makeup of the portion of the Record entitled ``Extensions of 
Remarks,'' the Public Printer shall withhold any Extensions of Remarks 
which exceed economical press fill or exceed production limitations. 
Extensions withheld for such reasons will be printed in succeeding 
issues, at the direction of the Public Printer, so that more uniform 
daily issues may be the end result and, in this way, when both Houses 
have a short session the makeup would be in a sense made easier so as to 
comply with daily proceedings, which might run extremely heavy at times.

  5. The request for a Member to extend his or her remarks in the body 
of the Record must be granted to the individual whose remarks are to be 
inserted.

  6. All statements for ``Extensions of Remarks,'' as well as copy for 
the body of the Congressional Record must be submitted on the Floor of 
the House to the Official Reporters of Debates and must carry the actual 
signature of the Member. Extensions of Remarks will be accepted up to 15 
minutes after adjournment of the House. To insure printing in that day's 
proceedings, debate transcripts still out for revision must be returned 
to the Office of Official Reporters of Debates, Room HT-60, the Capitol, 
(1) by 5 p.m., or 2 hours following adjournment, whichever occurs later; 
or (2) within 30 minutes following adjournment when the House adjourns 
at 11 p.m., or later.


  7. The Congressional Record shall contain a substantially verbatim 
account of remarks actually made during proceedings of the House, 
subject to technical, grammatical, and typographical corrections 
authorized by the Member making the remarks involved. The substantially 
verbatim account shall be clearly distinguishable, by different 
typeface, from material inserted under permission to extend remarks.


[[Page 755]]
strictly to the requirement of rule 7 of the supplemental rules (Mar. 
2, 1988, p. 2963; Feb. 3, 1993, p. ----). Because the Record is 
maintained as a substantially verbatim account of the proceedings of the 
House (44 U.S.C. 901), the Speaker will not entertain a unanimous 
consent request to give a special-order speech ``off the Record'' (June 
24, 1992, p. ----).


Sec. 924a. Substantially verbatim 
account.

  The requirement  of rule 7 of the supplemental rules outlined above that the 
Congressional Record be a substantially verbatim account of remarks 
actually rendered was included as a new clause 9 of rule XIV in the 
104th Congress, with the prescription that that rule constitute a 
standard of conduct under clause 4(e)(1)(B) of rule X (sec. 213, H. Res. 
6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). Under clause 9 of rule XIV, remarks actually 
delivered may not be deleted and remarks inserted must appear in 
distinctive type (Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). The Speaker has instructed the 
Official Reporters of Debates to adhere 


  The Record is for the proceedings of the House and Senate only, and 
matters not connected therewith are rigidly excluded (V, 6962). It is 
not, however, the official record, that function being fulfilled by the 
Journal (IV, 2727). As a general principle the Speaker has no control 
over the Record (V, 6984, 7017), but words spoken by a Member after he 
has been called to order may be excluded by direction of the Speaker (V, 
6975-6978; VIII, 3466, 3471; July 29, 1994, p. ----). But the House, and 
not the Speaker, determines what liberty shall be allowed to a Member 
who has leave to extend his remarks (V, 6997-7000; VIII, 3475), whether 
or not a copyrighted article shall be printed therein (V, 6985), as to 
an alleged abuse of the leave to print (V, 7012; VIII, 3474), or as to a 
proposed amendment (V, 6983).



Sec. 925. Relations of the Committee of the Whole 
to the Congressional Record.

  As a general  rule the Committee of the Whole has no 
control over the Congressional Record (V, 6986); but the Chairman in the 
preservation of order, may direct the exclusion of disorderly words 
spoken by a Member after he has been called to order (V, 6987). In a 
case wherein the committee conceived that a letter read in committee 
involved a breach of privilege, it reported the matter to the House for 
action, and the House struck the letter from the Record (V, 6986). The 
Chairman of the Committee of the Whole does not determine the privileges 
of a Member under a general leave to print in the record, that being for 
the House alone (V, 6988). Neither may the Committee of the Whole grant 
a general leave to print, although for convenience it does permit 
individual Members to extend their remarks (V, 7009, 7010; VIII, 3488-
3490; Aug. 31, 1965, p. 22385), nor may the Committee of the Whole 
permit the inclusion of extraneous material (Jan. 23, 1936, p. 950; Feb. 
1, 1937, pp. 656-57; Sept. 19, 1967, p. 26032).



[[Page 756]]
from action when the words, after being withheld for revision, appeared 
in the Record, and struck them out (V, 6979, 6981; VI, 582; VIII, 2538, 
3463, 3472).


Sec. 926. Correction of the Congressional 
Record.

  While the  House controls the Congressional Record, the Speaker with the 
assent of the House laid down the principle that words spoken by a 
Member in order might not be changed by the House, as this would be 
determining what a Member should utter on the floor (V, 6974; VI, 583; 
VIII, 3469, 3498). Neither should one House strike out matter placed in 
the Record by permission of the other House (V, 6966). But the House may 
correct the speech of one of its Members so that it may record 
faithfully what he actually said (V, 6972). Where a Member interrupts 
another during debate without being yielded or otherwise recognized (as 
on a point of order) his remarks are not printed in the Record (Speaker 
O'Neill, Feb. 7, 1985, p. 2229). Where a Member had uttered disorderly 
words on the floor without objection, the House yet decided that it was 
not precluded 


  The House has also ordered stricken from the Record printed speeches 
condemned as unparliamentary for reflections on Members, committees of 
the House, the House itself (V, 7017), and the Senate (V, 5129). In the 
101st Congress a resolution presented as a question of privilege was 
adopted which directed the Committee on House Administration to report 
with respect to certain unauthorized deletions from the Record. A task 
force of that Committee recommended that deletion of unparliamentary 
remarks be permitted only by consent of the House, and not by the Member 
uttering the words under authority to revise and extend (Oct. 27, 1990, 
p. ----). Through the 103d Congress, under applicable precedents and 
guidelines, the Chair could refine a ruling on a point of order in the 
Record in order to clarify the ruling without changing its substance, 
including one sustained by the House on appeal (Feb. 19, 1992, p. ----; 
see H. Res. 230, 99th Cong., July 31, 1985, p. 21783, and H. Rept. 99-
228). In accordance with existing accepted practices, the Speaker 
customarily made such technical or parliamentary corrections or 
insertions in the transcript of a ruling or statement by the Chair as 
may have been necessary to conform to rule, custom, or precedent (see 
also H. Res. 330, 101st Cong., Feb. 7, 1990, p. 1515, and report of 
House Administration Task Force on Record inserted by Speaker Foley, 
Oct. 27, 1990, p. ----). However, in the 104th Congress the Speaker 
ruled that the requirement of a new clause 9 of rule XIV that the Record 
be a substantially verbatim account of remarks made during House 
proceedings extended to statements and rulings of the Chair (Jan. 20, 
1995, p. ----).


[[Page 757]]

  It is improper for a Member to have published in the Record the 
individual votes of Members on a question of which the yeas and nays 
have not been entered on the Journal (V, 6982). A correction of the 
Record which involves a motion and a vote is recorded in the Journal 
(IV, 2877). Propositions to make corrections are sometimes considered by 
the Committee on House Oversight. In debating a resolution to strike 
from the Record disorderly language a Member may not read the language 
(V, 7004); but it was held that as part of a personal explanation 
relating to matter excluded as out of order a Member might read the 
matter, subject to a point of order if the reading should develop 
anything in violation of the rules of debate (V, 5079). It has also been 
held that a Member may not, in a controversy over a proposed correction 
of the Record as to a matter of business, demand as a matter of right 
the reading of the reporter's notes (V, 6967; VIII, 3460). The Speaker 
declines to entertain unanimous consent requests to correct the Record 
on a vote taken by electronic device, based upon the presumed accuracy 
of the electronic system and the ability and responsibility of each 
Member to verify his vote (Feb. 6, 1973, p. 3558; Apr. 18, 1973, p. 
13081; Dec. 3, 1974, p. 37897).



Sec. 927. Privileges of propositions to correct 
the Congressional Record.

  A motion or  resolution for the correction of the 
Congressional Record which involves a question of privilege may be made 
properly after the reading and approval of the Journal (V, 7013; VIII, 
3496), and is not in order pending the approval of the Journal (V, 
6989), but is privileged after that (V, 7014-7019; VIII, 3461, 3463).


  A question of privilege as to an alleged error in the Record may not 
be raised until the Record has appeared (V, 7020), and a resolution to 
omit from the manuscript copy certain remarks declared out of order is 
not privileged (V, 7021). Offensive words having been stricken from the 
Record by the Member, a question of privilege may not arise therefrom 
(V, 7023; VI, 596). Privileged motions to correct the Congressional 
Record involve cases where the integrity of House proceedings is in 
question, such as where unparliamentary words have been spoken in debate 
(see Sec. 761, supra) or inserted in the Record (Deschler's Precedents, 
vol. 1, ch. 5, sec. 17), where the remarks of one Member have been 
attributed to another (sec. 18.1-18.2), or where a Member has improperly 
altered his remarks during an exchange of colloquoy with another Member 
(sec. 18.9). Mere typographical errors in the Congressional Record or 
ordinary revisions of a Member's remarks do not give rise to privileged 
motions for the correction of the Record (Apr. 25, 1985, p. 9419), since 
such changes for the permanent edition of the Record may be made without 
the permission of the House (Deschler's Precedents, vol. 1, ch. 5, sec. 
19) and the House does not change the Record merely to show what a 
Member should have said during debate (sec. 18).

  A motion to correct the Record has been entertained to allow a Member 
to print in subsequent edition of the daily Record the correct text of 
an amendment which he had offered on a previous day and which had been 
substantially misprinted in the daily Record for the day on which it was 
offered (Deschler's Precedents, vol. 1, ch. 5, sec. 18.6).


[[Page 758]]
the House corrected the Record (V, 6973). The Joint Committee on 
Printing prescribes the conditions under which Members may revise their 
remarks (V, 7024; VIII, 3500).


Sec. 928. Privilege of Member to revise his 
remarks in the Congressional Record.

  It has been  the practice to allow a Member, 
with the approval of the House, to revise his remarks before publication 
in the Congressional Record (V, 6971); but he should not change the 
notes of his own speech in such a way as to affect the remarks of an 
opponent in controversy without bringing the correction to the attention 
of that Member (V, 6972; VIII, 3461). Where the remarks of another are 
not affected, a Member in revising a speech for the Record should abide 
by rule 9 of the rules adopted by the Joint Committee on Printing to 
govern the publication of the Congressional Record and should not delete 
correct material (see Secs. 924, 924a supra), but alterations which 
place a different aspect on the remarks of a colleague require 
authorization by the House (VIII, 3463, 3497). A Member is not entitled 
to inspect the Reporter's notes of remarks which do not contain 
reflections on himself, delivered by another Member and withheld for 
revision (V, 6964). Where a Member so revised his remarks as to affect 
the import of words uttered by another Member, 



[[Page 759]]
leave to revise and extend to be printed in distinctive type and 
precludes deletion under such permission of words actually uttered (Jan. 
4, 1995, p. ----).


Sec. 929. ``Leave to print'' in the Congressional 
Record.

  The practice  of inserting in the Congressional Record speeches not actually 
delivered on the floor has grown up by consent of the House as the 
membership has increased and it has become difficult at times for every 
Member to express at length on the floor his reasons for his attitude on 
public questions (V, 6990-6996, 6998-7000). The House quite generally 
stipulates, in granting leave to print, that it shall be exercised 
without unreasonable freedom (V, 7002, 7003). General leave to print may 
be granted only by the House, although in Committee of the Whole a 
Member, by unanimous consent, may be given leave to extend his remarks 
(V, 7009, 7010; VIII, 3488-3490). When a Member under leave to print 
places in the Record that which would not have been in order if uttered 
on the floor, the House may exclude the speech in whole or in part (V, 
7005-7008; VIII, 3495; Oct. 2, 1992, p. ----). Thus, where a Member, 
under leave to print, made charges against another Member, the House 
ordered the speech stricken out (V, 7004). The principle that a Member 
shall not be called to order for words spoken in debate if business has 
intervened does not apply to a case where leave to print has been 
violated (V, 7005). Where a Member gets leave to insert one matter he 
may not print another (V, 7001; VIII, 3462, 3479, 3480). Leave to extend 
remarks does not permit a Member to insert in the Record statements and 
letters of others unless the leave granted specifies such matter (VIII, 
3475, 3481) whether the extension be under general leave for all Members 
or individually. In Committee of the Whole leave for an extension of 
remarks should not be granted except in connection with remarks actually 
delivered and, if under the five-minute rule, relevant to the bill; and 
the extension under such circumstances should be brief (Speaker 
Longworth, Mar. 18, 1926, p. 5854). Neither the House nor the Committee 
of the Whole permit the insertion of an entire colloquy between two or 
more Members not actually delivered (Aug. 10, 1982, pp. 20266, 20267; 
Oct. 3, 1985, p. 26028). The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole has 
declined to entertain a request for an extension of remarks actually 
delivered under the five-minute rule but not relevant to the bill under 
consideration (Chairman Lehlbach, Mar. 18, 1926, p. 5861). Where a 
Member abused a leave to print on the last day of the session, the House 
at the next session condemned the abuse and declared the matter not a 
legitimate part of the official debates (V, 7017). An abuse of the leave 
to print gives rise to a question of privilege (V, 7005-7008, 7011; 
VIII, 3163, 3491, 3495), and a resolution or motion to expunge from the 
Record in such a case is offered as a question of privilege (V, 7012; 
VIII, 3475, 3491). An inquiry by the House as to an alleged abuse of the 
leave to print does not necessarily entitle the Member implicated to the 
floor on a question of privilege (V, 7012). Clause 9 of rule XIV, added 
in the 104th Congress, requires substantive remarks inserted under 


  A motion that a Member be permitted to extend his remarks in the 
Record is not privileged (Feb. 8, 1950, p. 1661), and under the rules of 
the Joint Committee on Printing, one Member cannot obtain permission for 
other individual Members to extend their remarks.

  Where extraneous material proposed to be inserted in the body or in 
the Extension of Remarks portion of the Record exceeds two Record pages, 
the rules of the Joint Committee on Printing require that the Member 
state an estimate of printing cost when permission is requested to make 
the insertion (Feb. 12, 1962, p. 2207; May 24, 1972, p. 18653), and it 
is the Member's responsibility and not that of the Chair to ascertain 
the cost of printing extraneous material and obtaining consent of the 
House when necessary (Feb. 11, 1994, p. ----). The Joint Committee on 
Printing amended the rules for publication of the Record, effective 
March 1, 1978, to require the identification in the Record by ``bullet'' 
symbols of statements or insertions no part of which were actually 
delivered in debate (Feb. 20, 1978, p. 3676). Where the House permitted 
all members leave to revise and extend their remarks on a certain 
subject, those Members who actually spoke during the debate could revise 
their remarks to appear as if actually delivered, but Members' 
statements no part of which were spoken were preceded and followed by a 
``bullet'' symbol (Nov. 15, 1983, p. 32729). Then in the 99th Congress, 
the House adopted a resolution requesting the Joint Committee on 
Printing to adopt temporary rules to require distinctive type styles 
rather than bulleting of remarks not actually spoken in debate (H. Res. 
230, July 31, 1985, p. 21783), and also adopted a resolution requesting 
that those rules be made permanent (H. Res. 514, Aug. 12, 1986, p. 
20980). Under regulations of the Joint Committee on Printing, remarks 
delivered or inserted under leave to revise and extend in connection 
with a ``one-minute speech'' made before legislative business are 
printed after legislative business if exceeding 300 words (Speaker 
O'Neill, Apr. 5, 1978, p. 8846). See Sec. 924, supra.


  Based upon several unauthorized insertions of extensions of remarks in 
the Record, the Speaker announced that henceforth all extensions of 
remarks must be signed by the Member submitting them (Aug. 15, 1974, p. 
28385).


[[Page 760]]
admitted thereto under such regulations as the Speaker may from time to 
time prescribe; and the supervision of such gallery, including the 
designation of its employees, shall be vested in the standing committee 
of correspondents, subject to the direction and control of the Speaker; 
and the Speaker may assign one seat on the floor to Associated Press 
reporters and one to United Press International, and regulate the 
occupation of the same. And the Speaker may admit to the floor, under 
such regulations as he may prescribe, one additional representative of 
each press association.



Sec. 930a. Unofficial reporters in the press gallery 
and on the floor.

  2. Such  portion of the gallery over the Speaker's chair as 
may be necessary to accommodate representatives of the press wishing to 
report debates and proceedings shall be set aside for their use, and 
reputable reporters and correspondents shall be 



  This clause was first adopted in 1857, and has been amended from time 
to time as the occasion demanded (V, 7304; VIII, 3642). It was again 
amended January 3, 1953, p. 24 and most recently on January 22, 1971, p. 
144. See also Consumers Union v. Periodical Correspondents' Association, 
515 F.2d 1341 (D.C. Cir. 1975), cert. den. 423 U.S. 1051 (1976) (action 
in enforcing correspondents' association regulations is within 
legislative immunity granted by the Speech or Debate Clause).


[[Page 761]]
trol of the Speaker; and the Speaker may admit to the floor, under such 
regulations as he may prescribe, one representative of the National 
Broadcasting Company, one of the Columbia Broadcasting System, one of 
the Mutual Broadcasting System, and one of the American Broadcasting 
Company.



Sec. 930b. Unofficial reporters in the radio gallery 
and on the floor.

  3. Such  portion of the gallery of the House of 
Representatives as may be necessary to accommodate reporters of news to 
be disseminated by radio, television, and similar means of transmission, 
wishing to report debates and proceedings, shall be set aside for their 
use, and reputable reporters thus engaged shall be admitted thereto 
under such regulations as the Speaker may from time to time prescribe; 
and the supervision of such gallery, including the designation of its 
employees, shall be vested in the Executive Committee of the Radio and 
Television Correspondents' Galleries, subject to the direction and con






[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 761]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-119]

 
  This clause was adopted on April 20, 1939, p. 4561, and was amended on 
May 30, 1940, p. 7208 and on January 22, 1971, p. 144.


                               Rule XXXV.


                            PAY OF WITNESSES.




Sec. 931. Fees of witnesses before the House or 
committees.

  The rule  for paying witnesses to appear before the House or any of 
its committees shall be as follows: For each day a witness shall attend, 
the same per diem rate as established, authorized, and regulated by the 
Committee on House Oversight for Members and employees of the House, and 
actual expenses of travel in coming to or going from the place of 
examination; but no per diem shall be paid when a witness has been 
summoned at the place of examination.








[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 762-765]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-120]

[[Page 762]]

 
  This rule was adopted in 1872, with amendments in 1880 (III, 1825), 
1930 (VI, 393), April 19, 1955, p. 4722, August 12, 1969, p. 23355 (H. 
Res. 495, 91st Cong.), and July 28, 1975, p. 25258 (H. Res. 517, 94th 
Cong.). The last amendment eliminated the specific per diem and travel 
rate of reimbursement and allowed actual travel costs and per diem for 
witnesses requested or subpoenaed to appear at the same rate as 
established by the Committee on House Oversight for Members and 
employees. 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. ----). For further provisions relating to witnesses, see 
clauses 2(j) and (k) of rule XI (Secs. 711 and 712, supra). 


                               Rule XXXVI.


    PRESERVATION AND AVAILABILITY OF NONCURRENT RECORDS OF THE HOUSE.



Sec. 932. Duties of clerk and committees as to 
custody of papers before committees.

  1. (a) At the  end of each Congress, the 
chairman of each committee of the House shall transfer to the Clerk any 
noncurrent records of such committee, including the subcommittees 
thereof.


  (b) At the end of each Congress, each officer of the House elected 
pursuant to rule II shall transfer to the Clerk any noncurrent records 
made or acquired in the course of the duties of such officer.

  2. The Clerk shall deliver the records transferred pursuant to clause 
1 of the rule, together with any other noncurrent records of the House, 
to the Archivist of the United States for preservation at the National 
Archives and Records Administration. Records so delivered are the 
permanent property of the House and remain subject to this rule and the 
orders of the House.

  3. (a) Subject to paragraph (b) of the clause, clause 4 of this rule, 
and orders of the House, the Clerk shall authorize the Archivist of the 
United States to make available for public use the records delivered to 
the Archivist under clause 2 of this rule.


[[Page 763]]
2 of this rule shall be made available immediately.
  (b)(1) Any record that the House or a committee of the House (or a 
subcommittee thereof) makes available for public use before such record 
is delivered to the Archivist under clause 

  (2) Any investigative record that contains personal data relating to a 
specific living individual (the disclosure of which would be an 
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy), any administrative record 
with respect to personnel, and any record with respect to a hearing 
closed pursuant to clause 2(g)(2) of rule XI shall be available if such 
record has been in existence for 50 years.

  (3) Any record for which a time, schedule, or condition for 
availability is specified by order of the House shall be made available 
in accordance with that order. Except as otherwise provided by order of 
the House, any record of a committee for which a time, schedule, or 
condition for availability is specified by order of the committee 
(entered during the Congress in which the record is made or acquired by 
the committee) shall be made available in accordance with the order of 
the committee.

  (4) Any record (other than a record referred to in subparagraph (1), 
(2), or (3) of this paragraph) shall be made available if such record 
has been in existence for 30 years.


[[Page 764]]
mittee on House Oversight of any determination under the preceding 
sentence.
  4. (a) A record shall not be made available for public use under 
clause 3 of this rule if the Clerk determines that such availability 
would be detrimental to the public interest or inconsistent with the 
rights and privileges of the House. The Clerk shall notify in writing 
the chairman and the ranking minority party Member of the Com

  (b) A determination of the Clerk under paragraph (a) is subject to 
later order of the House and, in the case of a record of a committee, 
later order of the committee.

  5. (a) This rule does not supersede rule XLVIII or rule L and does not 
authorize the public disclosure of any record if such disclosure is 
prohibited by law or executive order of the President.

  (b) The Committee on House Oversight may prescribe guidelines and 
regulations governing the applicability and implementation of this rule.

  (c) A committee may withdraw from the National Archives and Records 
Administration any record of the committee delivered to the Archivist of 
the United States under this rule. Such withdrawal shall be on a 
temporary basis and for official use of the committee.

  6. As used in the rule the term ``record'' means any official, 
permanent record of the House, including--

          (a) with respect to a committee of the House, an official, 
permanent record of the committee (including any record of a 
legislative, oversight, or other activity of such committee or 
subcommittee thereof); and


[[Page 765]]
term does not include a record of an individual Member of the House.

          (b) with respect to an officer of the House elected pursuant 
to rule II, an official, permanent record made or acquired in the course 
of the duties of such officer. Such 

  The predecessor to this provision was adopted in 1880 (V, 7260). The 
rule was renumbered in the 83d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1953, p. 
24), and was rewritten entirely in the 101st Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 
3, 1989, p. 73) to incorporate the provisions of H. Res. 419 as reported 
from the Committee on Rules in the 100th Congress (H. Rept. 100-1054). 
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. 
----).

  Clause 2 of the former provision stemmed from section 140(a) of the 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 812) and was made a 
part of the standing rules January 3, 1953 (p. 24) and amended January 
22, 1971 (p. 144). The Clerk of the House has historically been 
authorized to permit the Administrator of General Services to make 
available for use certain records of the House transferred to the 
National Archives (H. Res. 288, June 16, 1953, p. 6641). In the 99th 
Congress the reference was changed from the General Services 
Administration to the National Archives and Records Administration (H. 
Res. 114, Oct. 14, 1986, p. 30821).





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 765-766]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-121]

 
  Under rule XXXVI, an order of the House is required for the release of 
noncurrent records of the House (Mar. 22, 1991, p. ----).


                              Rule XXXVII.


                          WITHDRAWAL OF PAPERS.



[[Page 766]]



Sec. 933. Custody of papers in the files of the 
House.

  No memorial  or other paper presented to the House shall be withdrawn from 
its files without its leave, and if withdrawn therefrom certified copies 
thereof shall be left in the office of the Clerk; but when an act may 
pass for the settlement of a claim, the Clerk is authorized to transmit 
to the officer in charge with the settlement thereof the papers on file 
in his office relating to such claim, or may loan temporarily to an 
officer or bureau of the executive departments any papers on file in his 
office relating to any matter pending before such officer or bureau, 
taking proper receipt therefor.


  This rule was adopted in 1873 and amended in 1880 (V, 7256). It was 
renumbered January 3, 1953, p. 24.

  The House usually allows the withdrawal of papers only in cases where 
there has been no adverse report. As the rules for the order of business 
give no place to the motion to withdraw, it is made by unanimous consent 
(V, 7259). The House formerly adopted a privileged resolution at the 
beginning of each Congress authorizing the Clerk to furnish certified 
copies of certain types of House papers subpoenaed by courts upon 
determination of relevancy by the court, but not permitting production 
of executive session papers or transfer of original papers (Jan. 3, 
1973, pp. 30-31).





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 766]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-122]

 
  See rule L, infra for current procedure for response to subpoenas for 
papers of the House.


                              Rule XXXVIII.


                                 BALLOT.




Sec. 934. Elections by ballot.

  In all  cases of ballot a 
majority of the votes given shall be necessary to an election, and where 
there shall not be such a majority on the first ballot the ballots shall 
be repeated until a majority be obtained; and in all balloting blanks 
shall be rejected and not taken into the count in enumeration of votes 
or reported by the tellers.






[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 766-767]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-123]

 
  This rule was first adopted in 1789 and was amended in 1837 (V, 6003). 
It was renumbered January 3, 1953, p. 24. The last election by ballot 
seems to have occurred in 1868 (V, 6003).


                               Rule XXXIX.


                                MESSAGES.



[[Page 767]]



Sec. 935. Entry of messages in the Journal 
and Record.

  Messages received  from the Senate and the President of the United States, 
giving notice of bills passed or approved, shall be entered in the 
Journal and published in the Record of that day's proceedings.


  This rule was adopted in 1867 and amended in 1880 (V, 6593). It was 
renumbered January 3, 1953, p. 24.





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 767]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-124]

 
  The House may receive a message from the Senate when the Senate is not 
in session (VIII, 3338).


                                Rule XL.


                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS.




Sec. 936. Reception and reference of executive 
communications, including estimates.

  Estimates of  appropriations and all other 
communications from the executive departments, intended for the 
consideration of any committees of the House, shall be addressed to the 
Speaker, and by him referred as provided by clause 2 of rule XXIV.


  This rule was adopted in 1867 and amended in 1880 (V, 6593). It was 
renumbered January 3, 1953, p. 24.





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 767-768]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-125]

 
  Formerly estimates of appropriations were transmitted through the 
Secretary of the Treasury (IV, 3573-3576, 4045), but under the Budget 
Act they are transmitted by the President.


                                Rule XLI.


                QUALIFICATIONS OF OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.




Sec. 937. Officers and employees not to be agents of 
claims.

  No person  shall be an officer or employee of the House, or continue in 
its employment, who shall be an agent for the prosecution of any claim 
against the Government or be interested in such claim otherwise than as 
an original claimant or than in the proper discharge of official duties.



[[Page 768]]

  This rule was adopted in 1842 (V, 7227). It was renumbered January 3, 
1953, p. 24. It was amended by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 to include 
employees in the prohibition against prosecuting or having an interest 
in any claim against the government, to specify the inapplicability of 
that prohibition to the discharge of official duties, and to delete an 
obsolete reference to the Committee on House Administration (P.L. 101-
194, Nov. 30, 1989). 





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 768]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-126]

 
  Several provisions of the federal criminal code also address the 
conduct of Members, officers, and employees with respect to claims 
against the government (18 U.S.C. 203-207, 216).


                               Rule XLII.


                           GENERAL PROVISIONS.




Sec. 938. Relations of Jefferson's Manual and 
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to the rules of the 
House.

  The rules of  parliamentary practice comprised in Jefferson's Manual and the 
provisions of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, as amended, 
shall govern the House in all cases to which they are applicable, and in 
which they are not inconsistent with the standing rules and orders of 
the House and joint rules of the Senate and House of Representatives.






[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 768-774]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-127]

 
  This rule was adopted in 1837 (V, 6757), and amended January 3, 1953, 
p. 24, when it was also renumbered. Joint rules have not been in force 
since the 43d Congress. Discussion of the importance of Jefferson's 
Manual as an authority in congressional procedure (VII, 1029, 1049; 
VIII, 2501, 2517, 2518, 3330).


                               Rule XLIII.


                        CODE OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT.

  There is hereby established by and for the House of Representatives 
the following code of conduct, to be known as the ``Code of Official 
Conduct'':



Sec. 939. Official conduct of Members, officers, 
or employees of the House.

  1. A Member,  officer, or employee of the House of 
Representatives shall conduct himself at all times in a manner which 
shall reflect creditably on the House of Representatives.



[[Page 769]]
the letter of the Rules of the House of Representatives and to the 
rules of duly constituted committees thereof.
  2. A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives 
shall adhere to the spirit and 

  3. A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives 
shall receive no compensation nor shall he permit any compensation to 
accrue to his beneficial interest from any source, the receipt of which 
would occur by virtue of influence improperly exerted from his position 
in the Congress.

  4. A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives 
shall not accept gifts (other than the personal hospitality of an 
individual or with a fair market value of $100 or less, as adjusted 
under section 102(a)(2)(A) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978) in 
any calendar year aggregating more than the minimal value as established 
by section 7342(a)(5) of title 5, United States Code, or $250, whichever 
is greater, directly or indirectly from any person (other than from a 
relative), except to the extent permitted by written waiver granted in 
exceptional circumstances by the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct pursuant to clause 4(e)(1)(E) of rule X.

  5. A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives 
shall accept no honorarium for a speech, writing for publication, or 
other similar activity.


[[Page 770]]
bursement for legitimate and verifiable campaign expenditures and shall 
expend no funds from his campaign account not attributable to bona fide 
campaign or political purposes.
  6. A Member of the House of Representatives shall keep his campaign 
funds separate from his personal funds. A Member shall convert no 
campaign funds to personal use in excess of reim

  7. A Member of the House of Representatives shall treat as campaign 
contributions all proceeds from testimonial dinners or other fund 
raising events.

  8. A Member or officer of the House of Representatives shall retain no 
one under his payroll authority who does not perform official duties 
commensurate with the compensation received in the offices of the 
employing authority. In the case of committee employees who work under 
the direct supervision of a Member other than a chairman, the chairman 
may require that such Member affirm in writing that the employees have 
complied with the preceding sentence (subject to clause 6 of rule XI) as 
evidence of the chairman's compliance with this clause and with clause 6 
of rule XI.

  9. A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives 
shall not discharge or refuse to hire any individual, or otherwise 
discriminate against any individual with respect to compensation, terms, 
conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's 
race, color, religion, sex (including marital or parental status), 
handicap, age, or national origin, but may take into consideration the 
domicile or political affiliation of such individual.


[[Page 771]]
the commission of a crime for which a sentence of two or more years' 
imprisonment may be imposed should refrain from participation in the 
business of each committee of which he is a member and should refrain 
from voting on any question at a meeting of the House, or of the 
Committee of the Whole House, unless or until judicial or executive 
proceedings result in reinstatement of the presumption of his innocence 
or until he is reelected to the House after the date of such conviction.
  10. A Member of the House of Representatives who has been convicted by 
a court of record for 

  11. A Member of the House of Representatives shall not authorize or 
otherwise allow a non-House individual, group, or organization to use 
the words ``Congress of the United States,'' ``House of 
Representatives,'' or ``Official Business,'' or any combination of words 
thereof, on any letterhead or envelope.

  12. (a) Except as provided by paragraph (b), any employee of the House 
of Representatives who is required to file a report pursuant to rule 
XLIV shall refrain from participating personally and substantially as an 
employee of the House of Representatives in any contact with any agency 
of the executive or judicial branch of Government with respect to 
nonlegislative matters affecting any nongovernmental person in which the 
employee has a significant financial interest.


[[Page 772]]
necessary. A copy of each such waiver shall be filed with the Committee 
on Standards of Official Conduct.
  (b) Paragraph (a) shall not apply if an employee first advises his 
employing authority of his significant financial interest and obtains 
from his employing authority a written waiver stating that the 
participation of the employee is 

  13. Before any Member, officer, or employee of the House of 
Representatives may have access to classified information, the following 
oath (or affirmation) shall be executed:

        ``I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will not disclose any 
classified information received in the course of my service with the 
House of Representatives, except as authorized by House of 
Representatives or in accordance with its Rules.''
Copies of the executed oath shall be retained by the Clerk of the House 
as part of the records of the House.

  As used in this Code of Official Conduct of the House of 
Representatives--(a) the terms ``Member'' and ``Member of the House of 
Representatives'' include the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico and 
each Delegate to the House; and (b) the term ``officer or employee of 
the House of Representatives'' means any individual whose compensation 
is disbursed by the Clerk of the House of Representatives.


[[Page 773]]
in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, 
stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, 
half brother, half sister, or who is the grandfather or grandmother of 
the spouse of such Member, officer, or employee, and shall be deemed to 
include the fiance or fiancee of the Member, officer, or employee.

  For the purposes of clause 4 of this Code of Official Conduct, the 
term ``relative'' means, with respect to any Member, officer, or 
employee of the House of Representatives, an individual who is related 
as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first 
cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, grandfather, grandmother, 
grandson, granddaughter, father-in-law, mother-


[[Page 774]]
314(d) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act for fiscal year 
1992 (P.L. 102-90, Aug. 14, 1991). Clause 13 was added in the 104th 
Congress (sec. 220, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
  This rule was adopted in the 90th Congress (H. Res. 1099, Apr. 3, 
1968, p. 8803). The jurisdiction of the Committee on Standards of 
Official Conduct was redefined in the same resolution. The rule was 
amended in the 92d Congress to bring the Delegates from the District of 
Columbia, Guam and the Virgin Islands within the definition of 
``Member'' (H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144; H. Res. 1153, Oct. 13, 
1972, pp. 36021-23). The rule was further amended in the 94th Congress 
by adding clause 9 (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20). Clause 10 was 
adopted in the 94th Congress (H. Res. 46, Apr. 16, 1975, p. 10340). In 
the 95th Congress: (1) clause 4 was amended to change the prohibition 
against acceptance of gifts of ``substantial value''; (2) clause 6 was 
amended to delete from the second sentence the exception ``unless 
specifically provided by law,'' which had been added in the 94th 
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1975, p. 20); (3) clause 7 was amended to 
eliminate an exception permitting sponsors to give notice of purpose; 
and (4) definitions for purposes of clause 4 were added (H. Res. 287, 
Mar. 2, 1977, pp. 5933-53). Clause 11 was adopted in the 96th Congress 
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16). In the 100th Congress clause 4 was 
again amended in the 100th Congress to increase from $35 to $50 the 
value of personal hospitality of an individual that is not to be counted 
when computing the aggregate amount of gifts per calendar year, and 
clause 9 was amended to prohibit discrimination in employment based upon 
age (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1987, p. 6). In the Ethics Reform Act of 1989: 
(1) clause 4 was again amended to revise the rules governing the 
acceptance of gifts, including value thresholds, waivers, and defined 
``relatives''; (2) clause 5 was amended to prohibit the acceptance of 
honoraria effective January 1, 1991; (3) clause 6 was amended to specify 
that campaign funds be used only for bona fide campaign or political 
purposes; (4) clause 8 was amended to broaden Members' accountability 
for the pay and performance of staff; (5) clause 9 was amended to 
conform existing staff anti-discrimination rules to the Fair Employment 
Practices resolution adopted in the 100th Congress (now rule LI; see 
Sec. 946a, infra); (6) clause 12 was added to proscribe certain contacts 
as involving conflicts of interest; and (7) the last undesignated 
paragraph was amended to make conforming changes in the definition of 
``relative'' (P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989). The threshold and aggregate 
values in clause 4 were again adjusted by section 

  For an in depth discussion of this rule prepared by the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct, see the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong., 
2d Sess.).





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 774-796]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-128]

 
  It is not a proper parliamentary inquiry to ask the Chair to interpret 
the application of a criminal statute to a Member's conduct, as it is 
for the House and not the Chair to judge the conduct of Members (Nov. 
17, 1987, p. 32153). The committee has opined that ``conviction'' in 
clause 10 includes a plea of guilty or a certified finding of guilty 
even though sentencing may occur later (H. Rept. 94-76).


                               Rule XLIV.


                          FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.



Sec. 940. Financial report disclosing certain 
financial interests.

  1. A copy of  each report filed with the Clerk under Title I of 
the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 shall be sent by the Clerk within 
the seven-day period beginning the date on which the report is filed to 
the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. By August 1 of each 
year, the Clerk shall compile all such reports sent to him by Members 
within the period beginning on January 1 and ending on June 15 of each 
year and have them printed as a House document, which document shall be 
made available to the public.



  2. For the purposes of this rule, the provisions of Title I of the 
Ethics in Government Act of 1978 shall be deemed to be a rule of the 
House as it pertains to Members, officers, and employees of the House of 
Representatives.


[[Page 775]]
$300 or more; and (2) each creditor to whom was owed an unsecured loan 
or other indebtedness of $10,000 or more outstanding for at least 90 
days in the preceding calendar year (H. Res. 796, May 26, 1970, pp. 
17019-20). It was further amended in the 92d Congress to bring the 
Delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Virgin Islands 
within the definition of ``Members'' in the final sentence of the rule 
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144; H. Res. 1153, Oct. 13, 1972, pp. 
36021-23), and was amended in the 95th Congress to delete an obsolete 
reference (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70).
  The original version of this rule was adopted in the 90th Congress, in 
the same resolution that redefined the jurisdiction of the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct (H. Res. 1099, Apr. 3, 1968, p. 8803). In 
the 91st Congress the rule was amended, effective for years after 1970, 
to require public disclosure of (1) honoraria from a single source 
totaling 

  The rule was completely amended in the 95th Congress, effective July 
1, 1977, to: (1) broaden the sources and minimum amounts of income 
reported; (2) require reports to be filed with the Clerk as well as with 
the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct; and (3) make reports 
available to the public as printed House documents rather than having 
them maintained in the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (H. 
Res. 287, Mar. 2, 1977, pp. 5933-53). The rule was again amended in the 
96th Congress to incorporate by reference the relevant provisions of 
title I of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 as they pertain to 
Members, officers and employees of the House of Representatives (H. Res. 
5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16). Clause 1 was amended by the Ethics Reform 
Act of 1989 to make conforming changes in certain dates (P.L. 101-194, 
Nov. 30, 1989).


  For an in depth discussion of this rule prepared by the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct, see the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong., 
2d Sess.).


  Pertinent provisions of title I of the Ethics in Government Act of 
1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 6 Secs. 101-111) follow:


     Title I--Financial Disclosure Requirements of Federal Personnel


                        persons required to file


  Sec. 101. (a) Within thirty days of assuming the position of an 
officer or employee described in subsection (f), an individual shall 
file a report containing the information described in section 102(b) 
unless the individual has left another position described in subsection 
(f) within thirty days prior to assuming such new position or has 
already filed a report under this title with respect to nomination for 
the new position or as a candidate for the position.


                                  * * *


[[Page 776]]
of Congress shall file a report containing the information described in 
section 102(b). Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, in any calendar 
year in which an individual continues to be a candidate for any office 
but all elections for such office relating to such candidacy were held 
in prior calendar years, such individual need not file a report unless 
he becomes a candidate for another vacancy in that office or another 
office during that year.
  (c) Within thirty days of becoming a candidate as defined in section 
301 of the Federal Campaign Act of 1971, in a calendar year for 
nomination or election to the office of President, Vice President, or 
Member of Congress, or on or before May 15 of that calendar year, 
whichever is later, but in no event later than 30 days before the 
election, and on or before May 15 of each successive year an individual 
continues to be a candidate, an individual other than an incumbent 
President, Vice President, or Member 

  (d) Any individual who is an officer or employee described in 
subsection (f) during any calendar year and performs the duties of his 
position or office for a period in excess of sixty days in that calendar 
year shall file on or before May 15 of the succeeding year a report 
containing the information described in section 102(a).

  (e) Any individual who occupies a position described in subsection (f) 
shall, on or before the thirtieth day after termination of employment in 
such position, file a report containing the information described in 
section 102(a) covering the preceding calendar year if the report 
required by subsection (d) has not been filed and covering the portion 
of the calendar year in which such termination occurs up to the date the 
individual left such office or position, unless such individual has 
accepted employment in another position described in subsection (f).

  (f) The officers and employees referred to in subsections (a), (d), 
and (e) are-- * * *

  (9) a Member of Congress as defined under section 109(12);


  (10) an officer or employee of the Congress as defined under section 
109(13);


                                  * * *

  (g) Reasonable extensions of time for filing any report may be granted 
under procedures prescribed by the supervising ethics office for each 
branch, but the total of such extensions shall not exceed ninety days.

  (h) The provisions of subsections (a), (b), and (e) shall not apply to 
an individual who, as determined by the designated agency ethics 
official or Secretary concerned (or in the case of a Presidential 
appointee under subsection (b), the Director of the Office of Government 
Ethics), the congressional ethics committees, or the Judicial 
Conference, is not reasonably expected to perform the duties of his 
office or position for more than sixty days in a calendar year, except 
that if such individual performs the duties of his office or position 
for more than sixty days in a calendar year--

          (1) the report required by subsections (a) and (b) shall be 

        filed within fifteen days of the sixtieth day, and

          (2) the report required by subsection (e) shall be filed as 

        provided in such subsection.


[[Page 777]]
duties of his office or position less than one hundred and thirty days 
in a calendar year, but only if the supervising ethics office determines 
that--
  (i) The supervising ethics office for each branch may grant a publicly 
available request for a waiver of any reporting requirement under this 
section for an individual who is expected to perform or has performed 
the 

          (1) such individual is not a full-time employee of the 

        Government,

          (2) such individual is able to provide services specially 

        needed by the Government,

          (3) it is unlikely that the individual's outside employment or 

        financial interests will create a conflict of interest, and

          (4) public financial disclosure by such individual is not 


        necessary in the circumstances.


                           contents of reports

  Sec. 102. (a) Each report filed pursuant to section 101 (d) and (e) 
shall include a full and complete statement with respect to the 
following:

  (1)(A) The source, type, and amount or value of income (other than 
income referred to in subparagraph (B)) from any source (other than from 
current employment by the United States Government), and the source, 
date, and amount of honoraria from any source, received during the 
preceding calendar year, aggregating $200 or more in value and, 
effective January 1, 1991, the source, date, and amount of payments made 
to charitable organizations in lieu of honoraria, and the reporting 
individual shall simultaneously file with the applicable supervising 
ethics office, on a confidential basis, a corresponding list of 
recipients of all such payments, together with the dates and amounts of 
such payments.

  (B) The source and type of income which consists of dividends, rents, 
interest, and capital gains, received during the preceding calendar year 
which exceeds $200 in amount or value, and an indication of which of the 
following categories the amount or value of such item of income is 
within:

          (i) not more than $1,000,

          (ii) greater than $1,000 but not more than $2,500,

          (iii) greater than $2,500 but not more than $5,000,

          (iv) greater than $5,000 but not more than $15,000,

          (v) greater than $15,000 but not more than $50,000,

          (vi) greater than $50,000 but not more than $100,000,

          (vii) greater than $100,000 but not more than $1,000,000, or

          (viii) greater than $1,000,000.


[[Page 778]]

  (2)(A) The identity of the source, a brief description, and the value 
of all gifts aggregating more than the minimal value as established by 
section 7342(a)(5) of title 5, United States Code, or $250, whichever is 
greater, received from any source other than a relative of the reporting 
individual during the preceding calendar year, except that any food, 
lodging, or entertainment received as personal hospitality of an 
individual need not be reported, and any gift with a fair market value 
of $100 or less, as adjusted at the same time and by the same percentage 
as the minimal value is adjusted, need not be aggregated for purposes of 
this subparagraph. 

  (B) The identity of the source and a brief description (including a 
travel itinerary, dates, and nature of expenses provided) of 
reimbursements received from any source aggregating more than the 
minimal value as established by section 7342(a)(5) of title 5, United 
States Code, or $250, whichever is greater, and received during the 
preceding calendar year.

  (C) In an unusual case, a gift need not be aggregated under 
subparagraph (A) if a publicly available request for a waiver is 
granted.

  (3) The identity and category of value of any interest in property 
held during the preceding calendar year in a trade or business, or for 
investment or the production of income, which has a fair market value 
which exceeds $1,000 as of the close of the preceding calendar year, 
excluding any personal liability owed to the reporting individual by a 
spouse, or by a parent, brother, sister, or child of the reporting 
individual or of the reporting individual's spouse, or any deposits 
aggregating $5,000 or less in a personal savings account. For purposes 
of this paragraph, a personal savings account shall include any 
certificate of deposit or any other form of deposit in a bank, savings 
and loan association, credit union, or similar financial institution.

  (4) The identity and category of value of the total liabilities owed 
to any creditor other than a spouse, or a parent, brother, sister, or 
child of the reporting individual or of the reporting individual's 
spouse which exceed $10,000 at any time during the preceding calendar 
year, excluding--

          (A) any mortgage secured by real property which is a personal 

        residence of the reporting individual or his spouse; and

          (B) any loan secured by a personal motor vehicle, household 

        furniture, or appliances, which loan does not exceed the 


With respect to revolving charge accounts, only those with an 
outstanding liability which exceeds $10,000 as of the close of the 
preceding calendar year need be reported under this paragraph.
        purchase price of the item which secures it.

  (5) Except as provided in this paragraph, a brief description, the 
date, and category of value of any purchase, sale or exchange during the 
preceding calendar year exceeds $1,000--

          (A) in real property, other than property used solely as a 

        personal residence of the reporting individual or his spouse; or

          (B) in stocks, bonds, commodities futures, and other forms of 


Reporting is not required under this paragraph of any transaction solely 
by and between the reporting individual, his spouse, or dependent 
children.
        securities.


[[Page 779]]
paragraph shall not require the reporting of positions held in any 
religious, social, fraternal, or political entity and positions solely 
of an honorary nature.
  (6)(A) The identity of all positions held on or before the date of 
filing during the current calendar year (and, for the first report filed 
by an individual, during the two-year period preceding such calendar 
year) as an officer, director, trustee, partner, proprietor, 
representative, employee, or consultant of any corporation, company, 
firm, partnership, or other business enterprise, any nonprofit 
organization, any labor organization, or any educational or other 
institution other than the United States. This sub

  (B) If any person, other than the United States Government, paid a 
nonelected reporting individual compensation in excess of $5,000 in any 
of the two calendar years prior to the calendar year during which the 
individual files his first report under this title, the individual shall 
include in the report--

          (i) the identity of each source of such compensation; and

          (ii) a brief description of the nature of the duties performed 

        or services rendered by the reporting individual for each such 


The preceding sentence shall not require any individual to include in 
such report any information which is considered confidential as a result 
of a privileged relationship, established by law, between such 
individual and any person nor shall it require an individual to report 
any information with respect to any person for whom services were 
provided by any firm or association of which such individual was a 
member, partner, or employee unless such individual was directly 
involved in the provision of such services.
        source.

  (7) A description of the date, parties to, and terms of any agreement 
or arrangement with respect to (A) future employment; (B) a leave of 
absence during the period of the reporting individual's Government 
service; (C) continuation of payments by a former employer other than 
the United States Government; and (D) continuing participation in an 
employee welfare or benefit plan maintained by a former employer.

  (b)(1) Each report filed pursuant to subsections (a), (b), and (c) of 
section 101 shall include a full and complete statement with respect to 
the information required by--

          (A) paragraph (1) of subsection (a) for the year of filing and 

        the preceding calendar year,

          (B) paragraphs (3) and (4) of subsection (a) as of the date 

        specified in the report but which is less than thirty-one days 

        before the filing date, and

          (C) paragraphs (6) and (7) of subsection (a) as of the filing 

        date but for periods described in such paragraphs.

  (2)(A) In lieu of filling out one or more schedules of a financial 
disclosure form, an individual may supply the required information in an 
alternative format, pursuant to either rules adopted by the supervising 
ethics office for the branch in which such individual serves or pursuant 
to a specific written determination by such office for a reporting 
individual.

  (B) In lieu of indicating the category of amount or value of any item 
contained in any report filed under this title, a reporting individual 
may indicate the exact dollar amount of such item.


[[Page 780]]
part of the calendar year of filing up to the date of the termination 
of employment.
  (c) In the case of any individual described in section 101(e), any 
reference to the preceding calendar year shall be considered also to 
include that 

  (d)(1) The categories for reporting the amount or value of the items 
covered in paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (a) are as 
follows:

          (A) not more than $15,000;

          (B) greater than $15,000 but not more than $50,000;

          (C) greater than $50,000 but not more than $100,000;

          (D) greater than $100,000 but not more than $250,000;

          (E) greater than $250,000 but not more than $500,000;

          (F) greater than $500,000 but not more than $1,000,000; and

          (G) greater than $1,000,000.

  (2) For the purposes of paragraph (3) of subsection (a) if the current 
value of an interest in real property (or an interest in a real estate 
partnership) is not ascertainable without an appraisal, an individual 
may list (A) the date of purchase and the purchase price of the interest 
in the real property, or (B) the assessed value of the real property for 
tax purposes, adjusted to reflect the market value of the property used 
for the assessment if the assessed value is computed at less than 100 
percent of such market value, but such individual shall include in his 
report a full and complete description of the method used to determine 
such assessed value, instead of specifying a category of value pursuant 
to paragraph (1) of this subsection. If the current value of any other 
item required to be reported under paragraph (3) of subsection (a) is 
not ascertainable without an appraisal, such individual may list the 
book value of a corporation whose stock is not publicly traded, the net 
worth of a business partnership, the equity value of an individually 
owned business, or with respect to other holdings, any recognized 
indication of value, but such individual shall include in his report a 
full and complete description of the method used in determining such 
value. In lieu of any value referred to in the preceding sentence, an 
individual may list the assessed value of the item for tax purposes, 
adjusted to reflect the market value of the item used for the assessment 
if the assessed value is computed at less than 100 percent of such 
market value, but a full and complete description of the method used in 
determining such assessed value shall be included in the report.

  (e)(1) Except as provided in the last sentence of this paragraph, each 
report required by section 101 shall also contain information listed in 
paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (a) of this section respecting 
the spouse or dependent child of the reporting individual as follows:

          (A) The source of items of earned income earned by a spouse 

        from any person which exceed $1,000 and the source and amount of 

        any honoraria received by a spouse, except that, with respect to 

        earned income (other than honoraria), if the spouse is self-

        employed in business or a profession, only the nature of such 

        business or profession need be reported.

          (B) All information required to be reported in subsection 

        (a)(1)(B) with respect to income derived by a spouse or 


[[Page 781]]
        dependent child from 

        any asset held by the spouse or dependent child and reported pursuant 

        to subsection (a)(3).

          (C) In the case of any gifts received by a spouse or dependent 

        child which are not received totally independent of the 

        relationship of the spouse or dependent child to the reporting 

        individual, the identity of the source and a brief description 

        of gifts of transportation, lodging, food, or entertainment and 

        a brief description and the value of other gifts.

          (D) In the case of any reimbursements received by a spouse or 

        dependent child which are not received totally independent of 

        the relationship of the spouse or dependent child to the 

        reporting individual, the identity of the source and a brief 

        description of each such reimbursement.

          (E) In the case of items described in paragraphs (3) through 

        (5) of subsection (a), all information required to be reported 

        under these paragraphs other than items (i) which the reporting 

        individual certifies represent the spouse's or dependent child's 

        sole financial interest or responsibility and which the 

        reporting individual has no knowledge of, (ii) which are not in 

        any way, past or present, derived from the income, assets, or 

        activities of the reporting individual, and (iii) from which the 

        reporting individual neither derives, nor expects to derive, any 


Reports required by subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section 101 shall, 
with respect to the spouse and dependent child of the reporting 
individual, only contain information listed in paragraphs (1), (3), and 
(4) of subsection (a), as specified in this paragraph.
        financial or economic benefit.

  (2) No report shall be required with respect to a spouse living 
separate and apart from the reporting individual with the intention of 
terminating the marriage or providing for permanent separation; or with 
respect to any income or obligations of an individual arising from the 
dissolution of his marriage or the permanent separation from his spouse.

  (f)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), each reporting individual 
shall report the information required to be reported pursuant to 
subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section with respect to the 
holdings of and the income from a trust or other financial arrangement 
from which income is received by, or with respect to which a beneficial 
interest in principal or income is held by, such individual, his spouse, 
or any dependent child.

  (2) A reporting individual need not report the holdings of or the 
source of income from any of the holdings of--

          (A) any qualified blind trust (as defined in paragraph (3));

          (B) a trust--

                  (i) which was not created directly by such individual, 

                his spouse, or any dependent child, and

                  (ii) the holdings or sources of income of which such 

                individual, his spouse, and any dependent child have no 

                knowledge of; or 

[[Page 782]]

                

          (C) an entity described under the provisions of paragraph (8), 

        but such individual shall report the category of the amount of 

        income received by him, his spouse, or any dependent child from 

        the trust or other entity under subsection (a)(1)(B) of this 

        section.

  (3) For purpose of this subsection, the term ``qualified blind trust'' 
includes any trust in which a reporting individual, his spouse, or any 
minor or dependent child has a beneficial interest in the principal or 
income, and which meets the following requirements:

          (A)(i) The trustee of the trust and any other entity 

        designated in the trust instrument to perform fiduciary duties 

        is a financial institution, an attorney, a certified public 

        accountant, a broker, or an investment advisor who--

                  (I) is independent of and not associated with any 

                interested party so that the trustee or other person 

                cannot be controlled or influenced in the administration 

                of the trust by any interested party; and

                  (II) is not and has not been an employee of or 

                affiliated with any interested party and is not a 

                partner of, or involved in any joint venture or other 

                investment with, any interested party; and

                  (III) is not a relative of any interested party.

              (ii) Any officer or employee of a trustee or other entity 

            who is involved in the management or control of the trust--

                  (I) is independent of and not associated with any 

                interested party so that such officer or employee cannot 

                be controlled or influenced in the administration of the 

                trust by any interested party;

                  (II) is not a partner of, or involved in any joint 

                venture or other investment with, any interested party; 

                and

                  (III) is not a relative of any interested party.

          (B) Any asset transferred to the trust by an interested party 

        is free of any restriction with respect to its transfer or sale 

        unless such restriction is expressly approved by the supervising 

        ethics office of the reporting individual.

          (C) The trust instrument which establishes the trust provides 

        that--

                  (i) except to the extent provided in subparagraph (B) 

                of this paragraph, the trustee in the exercise of his 

                authority and discretion to manage and control the 

                assets of the trust shall not consult or notify any 

                interested party;

                  (ii) the trust shall not contain any asset the holding 

                of which by an interested party is prohibited by any law 

                or regulation;

                  (iii) the trustee shall promptly notify the reporting 

                individual and his supervising ethics office when the 

                holdings of any particular asset transferred to the 


[[Page 783]]
                trust by any interested party are 

                disposed of or when the value of such holding is less than $1,000;

                  (iv) the trust tax return shall be prepared by the 

                trustee or his designee, and such return and any 

                information relating thereto (other than the trust 

                income summarized in appropriate categories necessary to 

                complete an interested party's tax return), shall not be 

                disclosed to any interested party;

                  (v) an interested party shall not receive any report 

                on the holdings and sources of income of the trust, 

                except a report at the end of each calendar quarter with 

                respect to the total cash value of the interest of the 

                interested party in the trust or the net income or loss 

                of the trust or any reports necessary to enable the 

                interested party to complete an individual tax return 

                required by law or to provide the information required 

                by subsection (a)(1) of this section, but such report 

                shall not identify any asset or holding;

                  (vi) except for communications which solely consist of 

                requests for distributions of cash or other unspecified 

                assets of the trust, there shall be no direct or 

                indirect communication between the trustee and an 

                interested party with respect to the trust unless such 

                communication is in writing and unless it relates only 

                (I) to the general financial interest and needs of the 

                interested party (including, but not limited to, an 

                interest in maximizing income or long-term capital 

                gain), (II) to the notification of the trustee of a law 

                or regulation subsequently applicable to the reporting 

                individual which prohibits the interested party from 

                holding an asset, which notification directs that the 

                asset not be held by the trust, or (III) to directions 

                to the trustee to sell all of an asset initially placed 

                in the trust by an interested party which in the 

                determination of the reporting individual creates a 

                conflict of interest or the appearance thereof due to 

                the subsequent assumption of duties by the reporting 

                individual (but nothing herein shall require any such 

                direction); and

                  (vii) the interested parties shall make no effort to 

                obtain information with respect to the holdings of the 

                trust, including obtaining a copy of any trust tax 

                return filed or any information relating thereto except 

                as otherwise provided in this subsection.

          (D) The proposed trust instrument and the proposed trustee is 

        approved by the reporting individual's supervising ethics 

        office.

          (E) For purposes of this subsection, ``interested party'' 

        means a reporting individual, his spouse, and any minor or 

        dependent child; ``broker'' has the meaning set forth in section 

        3(a)(4) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 

        78c(a)(4)); and ``investment adviser'' includes any investment 

        adviser who, as determined under regulations prescribed by the 


[[Page 784]]
        supervising ethics office, is generally 

        involved in his role as such an adviser in the management or control of 

        trusts.

          (F) Any trust qualified by a supervising ethics office before 

        the effective date of title II of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 

        shall continue to be governed by the law and regulations in 

        effect immediately before such effective date.

  (4)(A) An asset placed in a trust by an interested party shall be 
considered a financial interest of the reporting individual, for the 
purposes of any applicable conflict of interest statutes, regulations, 
or rules of the Federal Government (including section 208 of title 18, 
United States Code), until such time as the reporting individual is 
notified by the trustee that such asset has been disposed of, or has a 
value of less than $1,000.

  (B)(i) The provisions of subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect 
to a trust created for the benefit of a reporting individual, or the 
spouse, dependent child, or minor child of such a person, if the 
supervising ethics office for such reporting individual finds that--

          (I) the assets placed in the trust consist of a well-

        diversified portfolio of readily marketable securities;

          (II) none of the assets consist of securities of entities 

        having substantial activities in the area of the reporting 

        individual's primary area of responsibility;

          (III) the trust instrument prohibits the trustee, 

        notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (3)(C) (iii) and 

        (iv) of this subsection, from making public or informing any 

        interested party of the sale of any securities;

          (IV) the trustee is given power of attorney, notwithstanding 

        the provisions of paragraph (3)(C)(v) of this subsection, to 

        prepare on behalf of any interested party the personal income 

        tax returns and similar returns which may contain information 

        relating to the trust; and

          (V) except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the trust 

        instrument provides (or in the case of a trust established prior 

        to the effective date of this Act which by its terms does not 

        permit amendment, the trustee, the reporting individual, and any 

        other interested party agree in writing) that the trust shall be 

        administered in accordance with the requirements of this 

        subsection and the trustee of such trust meets the requirements 


        of paragraph (3)(A).


                                  * * *

  (5)(A) The reporting individual shall, within thirty days after a 
qualified blind trust is approved by his supervising ethics office, file 
with such office a copy of--

          (i) the executed trust instrument of such trust (other than 

        those provisions which relate to the testamentary disposition of 

        the trust assets), and 

[[Page 785]]

        

          (ii) a list of the assets which were transferred to such 

        trust, including the category of value of each asset as 


This subparagraph shall not apply with respect to a trust meeting the 
requirements for being considered a qualified blind trust under 
paragraph (7) of this subsection.
        determined under subsection (d) of this section.

  (B) The reporting individual shall, within thirty days of transferring 
an asset (other than cash) to a previously established qualified blind 
trust, notify his supervising ethics office of the identity of each such 
asset and the category of value of each asset as determined under 
subsection (d) of this section.

  (C) Within thirty days of the dissolution of a qualified blind trust, 
a reporting individual shall--

          (i) notify his supervising ethics office of such dissolution, 

        and

          (ii) file with such office a copy of a list of the assets of 

        the trust at the time of such dissolution and the category of 

        value under subsection (d) of this section of each such asset.

  (D) Documents filed under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of this 
paragraph and the lists provided by the trustee of assets placed in the 
trust by an interested party which have been sold shall be made 
available to the public in the same manner as a report is made available 
under section 105 and the provisions of that section shall apply with 
respect to such documents and lists.

  (E) A copy of each written communication with respect to the trust 
under paragraph (3)(C)(vi) shall be filed by the person initiating the 
communication with the reporting individual's supervising ethics office 
within five days of the date of the communication.

  (6)(A) A trustee of a qualified blind trust shall not knowingly and 
willfully, or negligently, (i) disclose any information to an interested 
party with respect to such trust that may not be disclosed under 
paragraph (3) of this subsection; (ii) acquire any holding the ownership 
of which is prohibited by the trust instrument; (iii) solicit advice 
from any interested party with respect to such trust, which solicitation 
is prohibited by paragraph (3) of this subsection or the trust 
agreement; or (iv) fail to file any document required by this 
subsection.

  (B) A reporting individual shall not knowingly and willfully, or 
negligently, (i) solicit or receive any information with respect to a 
qualified blind trust of which he is an interested party that may not be 
disclosed under paragraph (3)(C) of this subsection or (ii) fail to file 
any document required by this subsection.


[[Page 786]]

  (C)(i) The Attorney General may bring a civil action in any 
appropriate United States district court against any individual who 
knowingly and willfully violates the provisions of subparagraph (A) or 
(B) of this paragraph. The court in which such action is brought may 
assess against such individual a civil penalty in any amount not to 
exceed $10,000. 

  (ii) The Attorney General may bring a civil action in any appropriate 
United States district court against any individual who negligently 
violates the provisions of subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph. 
The court in which such action is brought may assess against such 
individual a civil penalty in any amount not to exceed $5,000.

  (7) Any trust may be considered to be a qualified blind trust if--

          (A) the trust instrument is amended to comply with the 

        requirements of paragraph (3) or, in the case of a trust 

        instrument which does not by its terms permit amendment, the 

        trustee, the reporting individual, and any other interested 

        party agree in writing that the trust shall be administered in 

        accordance with the requirements of this subsection and the 

        trustee of such trust meets the requirements of paragraph 

        (3)(A); except that in the case of any interested party who is a 

        dependent child, a parent or guardian of such child may execute 

        the agreement referred to in this subparagraph;

          (B) a copy of the trust instrument (except testamentary 

        provisions) and a copy of the agreement referred to in 

        subparagraph (A), and a list of the assets held by the trust at 

        the time of approval by the supervising ethics office, including 

        the category of value of each asset as determined under 

        subsection (d) of this section, are filed with such office and 

        made available to the public as provided under paragraph (5)(D) 

        of this subsection; and

          (C) the supervising ethics office determines that approval of 

        the trust arrangement as a qualified blind trust is in the 

        particular case appropriate to assure compliance with applicable 

        laws and regulations.

  (8) A reporting individual shall not be required to report the 
financial interests held by a widely held investment fund (whether such 
fund is a mutual fund, regulated investment company, pension or deferred 
compensation plan, or other investment fund), if--

          (A)(i) the fund is publicly traded; or

          (ii) the assets of the fund are widely diversified; and

          (B) the reporting individual neither exercises control over 

        nor has the ability to exercise control over the financial 

        interests held by the fund.

  (g) Political campaign funds, including campaign receipts and 
expenditures, need not be included in any report filed pursuant to this 
title.

  (h) A report filed pursuant to subsection (a), (d), or (e) of section 
101 need not contain the information described in subparagraphs (A), 
(B), and (C) of subsection (a)(2) with respect to gifts and 
reimbursements received in a period when the reporting individual was 
not an officer or employee of the Federal Government.

  (i) A reporting individual shall not be required under this title to 
report--

          (1) financial interests in or income derived from-- 

[[Page 787]]

        

                  (A) any retirement system under title 5, United States 

                Code (including the Thrift Savings Plan under subchapter 

                III of chapter 84 of such title); or

                  (B) any other retirement system maintained by the 

                United States for officers or employees of the United 

                States, including the President, or for members of the 

                uniformed services; or


          (2) benefits received under the Social Security Act.


                            filing of reports


  Sec. 103. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the 
reports required under this title shall be filed by the reporting 
individual with the designated agency ethics official at the agency by 
which he is employed (or in the case of an individual described in 
section 101(e), was employed) or in which he will serve. The date any 
report is received (and the date of receipt of any supplemental report) 
shall be noted on such report by such official.


                                  * * *

  (g) Each supervising Ethics Office shall develop and make available 
forms for reporting the information required by this title.

  (h)(1) The reports required under this title shall be filed by a 
reporting individual with--

          (A)(i)(I) the Clerk of the House of Representatives, in the 

        case of a Representative in Congress, a Delegate to Congress, 

        the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, an officer or 

        employee of the Congress whose compensation is disbursed by the 

        Clerk of the House of Representatives, an officer or employee of 

        the Architect of the Capitol, the United States Botanic Gardens, 

        the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Printing Office, 

        the Library of Congress, or the Copyright Royalty Tribunal 

        (including any individual terminating service, under section 

        101(e), in any office or position referred to in this 

        subclause), or an individual described in section 101(c) who is 

        a candidate for nomination or election as a Representative in 

        Congress, a Delegate to Congress, or the Resident Commissioner 


        from Puerto Rico;


                                  * * *

          (ii) in the case of an officer or employee of the Congress as 

        described under section 101(f)(10) who is employed by an agency 

        or commission established in the legislative branch after the 

        date of the enactment of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989--

                  (I) the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the 

                House of Representatives, as the case may be, as 

                designated in the statute establishing such agency or 

                commission; or

                  (II) if such statute does not designate such 

                committee, the Secretary of the Senate for agencies and 


[[Page 788]]
                commissions established in 

                even numbered calendar years, and the Clerk of the House of 

                Representatives for agencies and commissions established 


                in odd numbered calendar years;


                                  * * *

          (2) The date any report is received (and the date of receipt 

        of any supplemental report) shall be noted on such report by 

        such committee.

  (i) A copy of each report filed under this title by a Member or an 
individual who is a candidate for the office of Member shall be sent by 
the Clerk of the House of Representatives or Secretary of the Senate, as 
the case may be, to the appropriate State officer designated under 
section 316(a) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 of the State 
represented by the Member or in which the individual is a candidate, as 
the case may be, within the 30-day period beginning on the day the 
report is filed with the Clerk or Secretary.


  (j)(1) A copy of each report filed under this title with the Clerk of 
the House of Representatives shall be sent by the Clerk to the Committee 
on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives within 
the 7-day period beginning on the day the report is filed.


                                  * * *


  (k) In carrying out their responsibilities under this title with 
respect to candidates for office, the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate shall avail themselves 
of the assistance of the Federal Election Commission. The Commission 
shall make available to the Clerk and the Secretary on a regular basis a 
complete list of names and addresses of all candidates registered with 
the Commission, and shall cooperate and coordinate its candidate 
information and notification program with the Clerk and the Secretary to 
the greatest extent possible.


                 failure to file or filing false reports

  Sec. 104. (a) The Attorney General may bring a civil action in any 
appropriate United States district court against any individual who 
knowingly and willfully falsifies or who knowingly and willfully fails 
to file or report any information that such individual is required to 
report pursuant to section 102. The court in which such action is 
brought may assess against such individual a civil penalty in any 
amount, not to exceed $10,000.

  (b) The head of each agency, each Secretary concerned, the Director of 
the Office of Government Ethics, each congressional ethics committee, or 
the Judicial Conference, as the case may be, shall refer to the Attorney 
General the name of any individual which such official or committee has 
reasonable cause to believe has willfully failed to file a report or has 
willfully falsified or willfully failed to file information required to 
be reported.


[[Page 789]]
committee, and the Judicial Conference of the United States, may take 
any appropriate personnel or other action in accordance with applicable 
law or regulation against any individual failing to file a report or 
falsifying or failing to report information required to be reported.
  (c) The President, the Vice President, the Secretary concerned, the 
head of each agency, the Office of Personnel Management, a congressional 
ethics 

  (d)(1) Any individual who files a report required to be filed under 
this title more than 30 days after the later of--

          (A) the date such report is required to be filed pursuant to 

        the provisions of this title and the rules and regulations 

        promulgated thereunder; or

          (B) if a filing extension is granted to such individual under 

        section 101(g), the last day of the filing extension period, 

        shall, at the direction of and pursuant to regulations issued by 

        the supervising ethics office, pay a filing fee of $200. All 

        such fees shall be deposited in the miscellaneous receipts of 

        the Treasury. The authority under this paragraph to direct the 

        payment of a filing fee may be delegated by the supervising 

        ethics office in the executive branch to other agencies in the 

        executive branch.


  (2) The supervising ethics office may waive the filing fee under this 
subsection in extraordinary circumstances.


                 custody of and public access to reports


  Sec. 105. (a) Each agency, each supervising ethics office in the 
executive or judicial branch, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, 
and the Secretary of the Senate shall make available to the public, in 
accordance with subsection (b), each report filed under this title with 
such agency or office or with the Clerk or the Secretary of the Senate.


                                  * * *


[[Page 790]]

  (b)(1) Except as provided in the second sentence of this subsection, 
each agency, each supervising ethics office in the executive or judicial 
branch, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and the Secretary of 
the Senate shall, within thirty days after any report is received under 
this title by such agency or office or by the Clerk or the Secretary of 
the Senate, as the case may be, permit inspection of such report by or 
furnish a copy of such report to any person requesting such inspection 
or copy. With respect to any report required to be filed by May 15 of 
any year, such report shall be made available for public inspection 
within 30 calendar days after May 15 of such year or within 30 days of 
the date of filing of such a report for which an extension is granted 
pursuant to section 101(g). The agency, office, Clerk, or Secretary of 
the Senate, as the case may be may require a reasonable fee to be paid 
in any amount which is found necessary to recover the cost of 
reproduction or mailing of such report excluding any salary of any 
employee involved in such reproduction or mailing. A copy of such report 
may be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge if it is 
determined that waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public 
interest. 

  (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a report may not be made available 
under this section to any person nor may any copy thereof be provided 
under this section to any person except upon a written application by 
such person stating--

          (A) that person's name, occupation and address;

          (B) the name and address of any other person or organization 

        on whose behalf the inspection or copy is requested; and

          (C) that such person is aware of the prohibitions on the 


Any such application shall be made available to the public throughout 
the period during which the report is made available to the public.
        obtaining or use of the report.

  (c)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to obtain or use a report--

          (A) for any unlawful purpose;

          (B) for any commercial purpose, other than by news and 

        communications media for dissemination to the general public;

          (C) for determining or establishing the credit rating of any 

        individual; or

          (D) for use, directly or indirectly, in the solicitation of 

        money for any political, charitable, or other purpose.

  (2) The Attorney General may bring a civil action against any person 
who obtains or uses a report for any purpose prohibited in paragraph (1) 
of this subsection. The court in which such action is brought may assess 
against such person a penalty in any amount not to exceed $10,000. Such 
remedy shall be in addition to any other remedy available under 
statutory or common law.


  (d) Any report filed with or transmitted to an agency or supervising 
ethics office or to the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the 
Secretary of the Senate pursuant to this title shall be retained by such 
agency or office or by the Clerk or the Secretary of the Senate, as the 
case may be. Such report shall be made available to the public for a 
period of six years after receipt of the report. After such six-year 
period the report shall be destroyed unless needed in an ongoing 
investigation, except that in the case of an individual who filed the 
report pursuant to section 101(b) and was not subsequently confirmed by 
the Senate, or who filed the report pursuant to section 101(c) and was 
not subsequently elected, such reports shall be destroyed one year after 
the individual either is no longer under consideration by the Senate or 
is no longer a candidate for nomination or election to the Office of 
President, Vice President, or as a Member of Congress, unless needed in 
an ongoing investigation.


                            review of reports


[[Page 791]]
only those reports required to be transmitted to him under this title 
within sixty days after the date of transmittal.
  Sec. 106. (a)(1) Each designated agency ethics official or Secretary 
concerned shall make provisions to ensure that each report filed with 
him under this title is reviewed within sixty days after the date of 
such filing, except that the Director of the Office of Government Ethics 
shall review 

  (2) Each congressional ethics committee and the Judicial Conference 
shall make provisions to ensure that each report filed under this title 
is reviewed within sixty days after the date of such filing.

  (b)(1) If after reviewing any report under subsection (a), the 
Director of the Office of Government Ethics, the Secretary concerned, 
the designated agency ethics official, a person designated by the 
congressional ethics committee, or a person designated by the Judicial 
Conference, as the case may be, is of the opinion that on the basis of 
information contained in such report the individual submitting such 
report is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, he shall 
state such opinion on the report, and shall sign such report.

  (2) If the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, the Secretary 
concerned, the designated agency ethics official, a person designated by 
the congressional ethics committee, or a person designated by the 
Judicial Conference, after reviewing any report under subsection (a)--

          (A) believes additional information is required to be 

        submitted, he shall notify the individual submitting such report 

        what additional information is required and the time by which it 

        must be submitted, or

          (B) is of the opinion, on the basis of information submitted, 

        that the individual is not in compliance with applicable laws 

        and regulations, he shall notify the individual, afford a 

        reasonable opportunity for a written or oral response, and after 

        consideration of such response, reach an opinion as to whether 

        or not, on the basis of information submitted, the individual is 

        in compliance with such laws and regulations.

  (3) If the Director of the Office of Government Ethics, the Secretary 
concerned, the designated agency ethics official, a person designated by 
a congressional ethics committee, or a person designated by the Judicial 
Conference, reaches an opinion under paragraph (2)(B) that an individual 
is not in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, the official 
or committee shall notify the individual of that opinion and, after an 
opportunity for personal consultation (if practicable), determine and 
notify the individual of which steps, if any, would in the opinion of 
such official or committee be appropriate for assuring compliance with 
such laws and regulations and the date by which such steps should be 
taken. Such steps may include, as appropriate--

          (A) divestiture,

          (B) restitution,

          (C) the establishment of a blind trust,

          (D) request for an exemption under section 208(b) of title 18, 

        United States Code, or

          (E) voluntary request for transfer, reassignment, limitation 



[[Page 792]]

The use of any such steps shall be in accordance with such rules or 
regulations as the supervising ethics office may prescribe.
        of duties, or resignation.

  (4) If steps for assuring compliance with applicable laws and 
regulations are not taken by the date set under paragraph (3) by an 
individual in a position in the executive branch (other than in the 
Foreign Service or the uniformed services), appointment to which 
requires the advice and consent of the Senate, the matter shall be 
referred to the President for appropriate action.

  (5) If steps for assuring compliance with applicable laws and 
regulations are not taken by the date set under paragraph (3) by a 
member of the Foreign Service or the uniformed services, the Secretary 
concerned shall take appropriate action.

  (6) If steps for assuring compliance with applicable laws and 
regulations are not taken by the date set under paragraph (3) by any 
other officer or employee, the matter shall be referred to the head of 
the appropriate agency, the congressional ethics committee, or the 
Judicial Conference, for appropriate action; except that in the case of 
the Postmaster General or Deputy Postmaster General, the Director of the 
Office of Government Ethics shall recommend to the Governors of the 
Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service the action to be 
taken.


  (7) Each supervising ethics office may render advisory opinions 
interpreting this title within its respective jurisdiction. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the individual to whom a 
public advisory opinion is rendered in accordance with this paragraph, 
and any other individual covered by this title who is involved in a fact 
situation which is indistinguishable in all material aspects, and who 
acts in good faith in accordance with the provisions and findings of 
such advisory opinion shall not, as a result of such act, be subject to 
any penalty or sanction provided by this title.


         confidential reports and other additional requirements


[[Page 793]]
title. Subsections (a), (b), and (d) of section 105 shall not apply 
with respect to any such report.
  Sec. 107. (a)(1) Each supervising ethics office may require officers 
and employees under its jurisdiction (including special Government 
employees as defined in section 202 of title 18, United States Code) to 
file confidential financial disclosure reports, in such form as the 
supervising ethics office may prescribe. The information required to be 
reported under this subsection by the officers and employees of any 
department or agency shall be set forth in rules or regulations 
prescribed by the supervising ethics office, and may be less extensive 
than otherwise required by this title, or more extensive when determined 
by the supervising ethics office to be necessary and appropriate in 
light of sections 202 through 209 of title 18, United States Code, 
regulations promulgated thereunder, or the authorized activities of such 
officers or employees. Any individual required to file a report pursuant 
to section 101 shall not be required to file a confidential report 
pursuant to this subsection, except with respect to information which is 
more extensive than information otherwise required by this 

  (2) Any information required to be provided by an individual under 
this subsection shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed to the 
public.

  (3) Nothing in this subsection exempts any individual otherwise 
covered by the requirement to file a public financial disclosure report 
under this title from such requirement.

  (b) The provisions of this title requiring the reporting of 
information shall supersede any general requirement under any other 
provision of law or regulation with respect to the reporting of 
information required for purposes of preventing conflicts of interest or 
apparent conflicts of interest. Such provisions of this title shall not 
supersede the requirements of section 7342 of title 5, United States 
Code.


  (c) Nothing in this Act requiring reporting of information shall be 
deemed to authorize the receipt of income, gifts, or reimbursements; the 
holding of assets, liabilities, or positions; or the participation in 
transactions that are prohibited by law, Executive order, rule, or 
regulation.


                    authority of comptroller general

  Sec. 108. (a) The Comptroller General shall have access to financial 
disclosure reports filed under this title for the purposes of carrying 
out his statutory responsibilities.


  (b) No later than December 31, 1992, and regularly thereafter, the 
Comptroller General shall conduct a study to determine whether the 
provisions of this title are being carried out effectively.


                               definitions

  Sec. 109. For the purposes of this title, the term--

  (1) ``congressional ethics committees'' means the Select Committee on 
Ethics of the Senate and the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct 
of the House of Representatives;

  (2) ``dependent child'' means, when used with respect to any reporting 
individual, any individual who is a son, daughter, stepson, or 
stepdaughter and who--

          (A) is unmarried and under age 21 and is living in the 

        household of such reporting individual; or

          (B) is a dependent of such reporting individual within the 

        meaning of section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;


  (3) ``designated agency ethics official'' means an officer or employee 
who is designated to administer the provisions of this title within an 
agency;


                                  * * *


[[Page 794]]

  (5) ``gift'' means a payment, advance, forbearance, rendering, or 
deposit of money, or any thing of value, unless consideration of equal 
or greater value is received by the donor, but does not include-- 

          (A) bequest and other forms of inheritance;

          (B) suitable mementos of a function honoring the reporting 

        individual;

          (C) food, lodging, transportation, and entertainment provided 

        by a foreign government within a foreign country or by the 

        United States Government, the District of Columbia, or a State 

        or local government or political subdivision thereof;

          (D) food and beverages which are not consumed in connection 

        with a gift of overnight lodging;

          (E) communications to the offices of a reporting individual, 

        including subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals; or

          (F) consumable products provided by home-State businesses to 

        the offices of a reporting individual who is an elected 

        official, if those products are intended for consumption by 

        persons other than such reporting individual;

  (6) ``honoraria'' has the meaning given such term in section 505 of 
this Act;


  (7) ``income'' means all income from whatever source derived, 
including but not limited to the following items: compensation for 
services, including fees, commissions, and similar items; gross income 
derived from business (and net income if the individual elects to 
include it); gains derived from dealings in property; interest; rents; 
royalties; dividends; annuities; income from life insurance and 
endowment contracts; pensions; income from discharge of indebtedness; 
distributive share of partnership income; and income from an interest in 
an estate or trust;


                                  * * *

  (11) ``legislative branch'' includes--

          (A) the Architect of the Capitol;

          (B) the Botanic Gardens;

          (C) the Congressional Budget Office;

          (D) the General Accounting Office;

          (E) the Government Printing Office;

          (F) the Library of Congress;

          (G) the United States Capitol Police;

          (H) the Office of Technology Assessment; and

          (I) any other agency, entity, office, or commission 

        established in the legislative branch;

  (12) ``Member of Congress'' means a United States Senator, a 
Representative in Congress, a Delegate to Congress, or the Resident 
Commissioner from Puerto Rico;

  (13) ``officer or employee of the Congress'' means--

          (A) any individual described under subparagraph (B), other 

        than a Member of Congress or the Vice President, whose 

        compensation is disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate or the 

        Clerk of the House of Representatives; 

[[Page 795]]

        

          (B)(i) each officer or employee of the legislative branch who, 

        for at least 60 days, occupies a position for which the rate of 

        basic pay is equal to or greater than 120 percent of the minimum 

        rate of basic pay payable for GS-15 of the General Schedule; and

          (ii) at least one principal assistant designated for purposes 

        of this paragraph by each Member who does not have an employee 

        who occupies a position for which the rate of basic pay is equal 

        to or greater than 120 percent of the minimum rate of basic pay 

        payable for GS-15 of the General Schedule;

  (14) ``personal hospitality of any individual'' means hospitality 
extended for a nonbusiness purpose by an individual, not a corporation 
or organization, at the personal residence of that individual or his 
family or on property or facilities owned by that individual or his 
family;

  (15) ``reimbursement'' means any payment or other thing of value 
received by the reporting individual, other than gifts, to cover travel-
related expenses of such individual other than those which are--

          (A) provided by the United States Government, the District of 

        Columbia, or a State or local government or political 

        subdivision thereof;

          (B) required to be reported by the reporting individual under 

        section 7342 of title 5, United States Code; or

          (C) required to be reported under section 304 of the Federal 

        Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434);


  (16) ``relative'' means an individual who is related to the reporting 
individual, as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, 
aunt, great aunt, great uncle, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, 
wife, grandfather, grandmother, grandson, granddaughter, father-in-law, 
mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-
law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, 
stepsister, half brother, half sister, or who is the grandfather or 
grandmother of the spouse of the reporting individual, and shall be 
deemed to include the fiance or fiancee of the reporting individual;


                                  * * *

  (18) ``supervising ethics office'' means--

          (A) the Senate Committee on Ethics of the Senate, for 

        Senators, officers and employees of the Senate, and other 

        officers or employees of the legislative branch required to file 

        financial disclosure reports with the Secretary of the Senate 

        pursuant to section 103(h) of this title;

          (B) the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the 

        House of Representatives, for Members, officers and employees of 

        the House of Representatives and other officers or employees of 

        the legislative branch required to file financial disclosure 

        reports with the Clerk of the House of Representatives pursuant 

        to section 103(h) of this title; 

[[Page 796]]

        

          (C) the Judicial Conference for judicial officers and judicial 

        employees; and

          (D) the Office of Government Ethics for all executive branch 

        officers and employees; and


  (19) ``value'' means a good faith estimate of the dollar value if the 
exact value is neither known nor easily obtainable by the reporting 
individual.


        notice of actions taken to comply with ethics agreements

  Sec. 110. (a) In any case in which an individual agrees with that 
individual's designated agency ethics official, the Office of Government 
Ethics, a Senate confirmation committee, a congressional ethics 
committee, or the Judicial Conference, to take any action to comply with 
this Act of any other law or regulation governing conflicts of interest 
of, or establishing standards of conduct applicable with respect to, 
officers or employees of the Government, that individual shall notify in 
writing the designated agency ethics official, the Office of Government 
Ethics, the appropriate committee of the Senate, the congressional 
ethics committee, or the Judicial Conference, as the case may be, of any 
action taken by the individual pursuant to that agreement. Such 
notification shall be made not later than the date specified in the 
agreement by which action by the individual must be taken, or not later 
than three months after the date of the agreement, if no date for action 
is so specified.


  (b) If an agreement described in subsection (a) requires that the 
individual recuse himself or herself from particular categories of 
agency or other official action, the individual shall reduce to writing 
those subjects regarding which the recusal agreement will apply and the 
process by which it will be determined whether the individual must 
recuse himself or herself in a specific instance. An individual shall be 
considered to have complied with the requirements of subsection (a) with 
respect to such recusal agreement if such individual files a copy of the 
document setting forth the information described in the preceding 
sentence with such individual's designated agency ethics official or the 
appropriate supervising ethics office within the time prescribed in the 
last sentence of subsection (a).


                      administration of provisions


  Sec. 111. The provisions of this title shall be administered by * * *


                                  * * *


  (2) the Select Committee on Ethics of the Senate and the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives, as 
appropriate, with regard to officers and employees described in 
paragraphs (9) and (10) of section 101(f).







[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 797-798]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-129]

[[Page 797]]

 
                                 * * * 


                                Rule XLV.


               PROHIBITION OF UNOFFICIAL OFFICE ACCOUNTS.

  1. No Member may maintain or have maintained for his use an unofficial 
office account.



Sec. 941.

  2. After the  date of adoption of this rule, no 
funds may be paid into any unofficial office account.


  3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this rule, if an amount from 
the Official Expenses Allowance of a Member is paid into the House 
Recording Studio revolving fund for telecommunications satellite 
services, the Member may accept reimbursement from non-political 
entities in that amount for transmission to the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives for credit to the Official Expenses Allowance.

  4. For purposes of this rule--

  (a) the term ``unofficial office account'' means an account or 
repository into which funds are received for the purpose of defraying 
otherwise unreimbursed expenses allowable under section 162(a) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as ordinary and necessary in the operation 
of a congressional office, and includes any newsletter fund referred to 
in section 527(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954; and


  (b) the term ``Member'' means any Member of, Delegate to, or Resident 
Commissioner in, the House of Representatives.


[[Page 798]]
charges attributable to nonpolitical organizations receiving the 
transmissions (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----).
  This rule was adopted in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 287, Mar. 2, 1977, 
pp. 5933-53). It was amended in the 102d Congress to permit Members to 
receive reimbursements to their expense allowances for recording studio 





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 798-800]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-130]

 
  For an in depth discussion of this rule prepared by the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct, see the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong., 
2d Sess.).


                               Rule XLVI.


                  LIMITATIONS ON THE USE OF THE FRANK.



Sec. 942.

  1. Any  franked mail which is mailed by a Member 
under section 3210(d) of title 39, United States Code, shall be mailed 
at the equivalent rate of postage which assures that such mail will be 
sent by the most economical means practicable.


  2. A Member shall, before making any mass mailing, submit a sample or 
description of the mail matter involved to the House Commission on 
Congressional Mailing Standards for an advisory opinion as to whether 
such proposed mailing is in compliance with applicable provisions of 
law, rule, or regulation.

  3. Any mass mailing which otherwise is frankable by a Member under the 
provisions of section 3210(e) of title 39, United States Code, shall not 
be frankable unless the cost of preparing and printing such mass mailing 
is defrayed exclusively from funds made available in any appropriations 
Act.

  4. A Member may not send any mass mailing outside the congressional 
district from which the Member was elected.


[[Page 799]]
statewide public office, any mass mailing shall not be frankable under 
section 3210 of title 39, United States Code, when the same is delivered 
to any address which is not located in the area constituting the 
congressional district from which any such individual was elected.
  5. In the case of any Representative in the House of Representatives, 
other than a Representative at Large, who is a candidate for any 

  6. In the case of any Member, any mass mailing shall not be frankable 
under section 3210 of title 39, United States Code, when the same is 
postmarked less than sixty days immediately before the date of any 
primary or general election (whether regular, special, or runoff) in 
which such Member is a candidate for public office. If mail matter is of 
a type which is not customarily postmarked, the date on which such 
matter would have been postmarked if it were of a type customarily 
postmarked shall apply.

  7. For purposes of this rule--

  (a) The term ``mass mailing'' means, with respect to a session in 
Congress, any mailing of newsletters or other pieces of mail with 
substantially identical content (whether such mail is deposited singly 
or in bulk, or at the same time or different times), totaling more than 
500 pieces in that session, except that such term does not include any 
mailing--

          (1) of matter in direct response to a communication from a 
person to whom the matter is mailed;


[[Page 800]]

          (2) from a Member to other Members of Congress, or to Federal, 
State, or local government officials; or 

          (3) of a news release to the communications media.

  (b) The term ``Member'' means any Member of the House of 
Representatives, a Delegate to the House of Representatives, or the 
Resident Commissioner in the House of Representatives.


  (c) The term ``Members of Congress'' means Senators and 
Representatives in, and Delegates and Resident Commissioners to, the 
Congress.

  This rule was adopted in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 287, Mar. 2, 1977, 
pp. 5933-53). In the 102d Congress it was extensively amended to conform 
to restrictions on franking and mass mailings included in the 
legislative branch appropriations acts for fiscal years 1990 and 1991 
(P.L. 101-163 and 101-520, respectively) (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. --
--). Clause 4 was rewritten in the 103d Congress to conform to the 
statutory prohibition against mass mailings outside the congressional 
district from which a Member was elected.





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 800-806]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-131]

 
  For an indepth discussion of this rule prepared by the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct, see the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong., 
2d Sess.).


                               Rule XLVII.


          LIMITATIONS ON OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT AND EARNED INCOME.



Sec. 943a. Income Limitations.

  1. (a)(1) Except  as provided 
by subparagraph (2), in calendar year 1991 or thereafter, a Member or an 
officer or employee of the House may not--


          (A) have outside earned income attributable to such calendar 
year which exceeds 15 percent of the annual rate of basic pay for level 
II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, United 
States Code, as of January 1 of such calendar year; or

          (B) receive any honorarium. 

[[Page 801]]

        

  (2) In the case of any individual who becomes a Member or an officer 
or employee of the House during calendar year 1991 or thereafter, such 
individual may not have outside earned income attributable to the 
portion of that calendar year which occurs after such individual becomes 
a Member, officer or employee which exceeds 15 percent of the annual 
rate of basic pay for level II of the Executive Schedule under section 
5313 of title 5, United States Code, as of January 1 of such calendar 
year multiplied by a fraction the numerator of which is the number of 
days such individual is a Member, officer, or employee during such 
calendar year and the denominator of which is 365.

  (3) In calendar year 1991 or thereafter, any payment in lieu of an 
honorarium which is made to a charitable organization on behalf of a 
Member, officer or employee of the House may not be received by such 
individual. No such payment shall exceed $2,000 or be made to a 
charitable organization from which such individual or a parent, sibling, 
spouse, child, or dependent relative of such individual derives any 
financial benefit.


[[Page 802]]

  (b)(1) Except as provided by subparagraph (2), in calendar year 1990, 
a Member may not have outside earned income (including honoraria 
received in such calendar year) attributable to such calendar year which 
exceeds 30 percent of the annual pay as a Member to which the Member was 
entitled in 1989. 

  (2) In the case of any individual who becomes a Member during calendar 
year 1990, such individual may not have outside earned income (including 
honoraria) attributable to the portion of that calendar year which 
occurs after such individual becomes a Member which exceeds 30 percent 
of $89,500 multiplied by a fraction the numerator of which is the number 
of days such individual is a Member during such calendar year and the 
denominator of which is 365.

  2. On or after January 1, 1991, a Member or an officer or employee of 
the House shall not--

          (1) receive compensation for affiliating with or being 
employed by a firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other 
entity which provides professional services involving a fiduciary 
relationship;

          (2) permit that Member's, officer's, or employee's name to be 
used by any such firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other 
entity;

          (3) receive compensation for practicing a profession which 
involves a fiduciary relationship;

          (4) serve for compensation as an officer or member of the 
board of any association, corporation, or other entity; or

          (5) receive compensation for teaching, without the prior 
notification and approval of the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct.


[[Page 803]]

  3. For the purposes of this rule-- 

          (a) The term ``Member'' means any Member of the House of 
Representatives, a Delegate to the House of Representatives, or the 
Resident Commissioner in the House of Representatives.

          (b)(1) Except as provided by paragraph (2), the term ``officer 
or employee of the House'' means any individual (other than a Member) 
whose pay is disbursed by the Clerk and who is paid at a rate equal to 
or greater than the annual rate of basic pay in effect for grade GS-16 
of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, United States 
Code, and so employed for more than 90 days in a calendar year.

          (2) When used with respect to honoraria, the term ``officer or 
employee of the House'' means any individual (other than a Member) whose 
salary is disbursed by the Clerk.

  (c) The term ``honorarium'' means a payment of money or any thing of 
value for an appearance, speech, or article by a Member or an officer or 
employee of the House, excluding any actual and necessary travel 
expenses incurred by such individual (and one relative) to the extent 
that such expenses are paid or reimbursed by any other person, and the 
amount otherwise determined shall be reduced by the amount of any such 
expenses to the extent that such expenses are not paid or reimbursed.


[[Page 804]]
the cost of transportation, and the cost of lodging and meals while 
away from his or her residence or principal place of employment.
  (d) The term ``travel expenses'' means, with respect to a Member or an 
officer or employee of the House, or a relative of any such individual, 

  (e) The term ``outside earned income'' means, with respect to a 
Member, officer or employee, wages, salaries, fees, and other amounts 
received or to be received as compensation for personal services 
actually rendered but does not include--

          (1) the salary of such individual as a Member, officer or 
employee;

          (2) any compensation derived by such individual for personal 
services actually rendered prior to the effective date of this rule or 
becoming such a Member, officer or employee, whichever occurs later;

          (3) any amount paid by, or on behalf of, a Member, officer or 
employee, to a tax-qualified pension, profit-sharing, or stock bonus 
plan and received by such individual from such a plan;


[[Page 805]]

          (4) in the case of a Member, officer or employee engaged in a 
trade or business in which the individual or his family holds a 
controlling interest and in which both personal services and capital are 
income-producing factors, any amount received by such individual so long 
as the personal services actually rendered by the individual in the 
trade or business do not generate a significant amount of income; and 

          (5) copyright royalties received from established publishers 
pursuant to usual and customary contractual terms.
Outside earned income shall be determined without regard to any 
community property law.


  (f) The term ``charitable organization'' means an organization 
described in section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

  The rule on outside earned income was adopted in the 95th Congress (H. 
Res. 287, Mar. 2, 1977, pp. 5933-53). It was amended for the first time 
in the 96th Congress to increase the limit on a single honorarium from 
$750 to $1000 (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16). The rule was amended 
further in the 97th Congress to (1) increase the limitation on outside 
earned income for a calendar year from 15 to 30 percent of a Member's 
salary; (2) strike the $1000 limitation on a single honorarium; and (3) 
provide that honoraria shall be attributable to the calendar year in 
which payment is received, effective January 1, 1981 (H. Res. 305, Dec. 
15, 1981, p. 31529). In the 99th Congress, paragraphs (a) and (b) were 
amended to delete the 30 percent of aggregate salary limitation on 
outside earned income and to conform the limitation to that contained in 
law (2 U.S.C. 31-1 provides that a Member of Congress may not accept 
honoraria in excess of 40 percent of his aggregate salary) (H. Res. 427, 
Apr. 22, 1986, p. 8328). The next day, the House adopted a resolution 
vacating the proceedings by which that resolution had been adopted and 
laying that resolution on the table (H. Res. 432, Apr. 23, 1986, p. 
8474). The Ethics Reform Act of 1989: (1) amended the title of the rule; 
(2) amended clause 1 to effect for 1991 and future years the elimination 
of honoraria not assigned to charity and closer restrictions on outside 
earned income (including limitation to 15 percent of Executive Level II 
pay); (3) amended clause 2 to effect for 1991 and future years new 
limits on outside employment; and (4) amended clause 3 to revise certain 
definitions (P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989). In the 102d Congress clause 2 
was further amended to specify that the ban on affiliation with a firm 
applies only if compensation is received and only with respect to a 
professional services firm, and clause 3 was further amended to specify 
the applicability of outside earned income restrictions to officers and 
employees of the House (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----).

  For an in depth discussion of this rule prepared by the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct, see the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong., 
2d Sess.).


[[Page 806]]
pointed Federal employee who accepts an honorarium of more than $2000 
per speech. A statutory ceiling of $25,000 from honoraria in a calendar 
year was repealed in 1981 (P.L. 97-51, Oct. 1, 1981). The Senate 
repealed its rule on outside earned income in the 97th Congress (S. Res. 
512, Dec. 14, 1982, p. 30640).
  Before its coverage was restricted to the Senate in the Ethics Reform 
Act of 1989 (sec. 601(b), P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989), a separate 
provision of law (2 U.S.C. 441i) provided criminal penalties for any 
elected or ap


  For provisions of the federal criminal code restricting postemployment 
activities, see 18 U.S.C. 207, which was originally enacted in title V 
of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-521) and most recently 
amended in the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 (P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989) 
and a related technical corrections Act (P.L. 101-280, May 4, 1990).





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 806-820]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-132]

 


Sec. 943b. Former Select Committee on 
Ethics.

  The House  established in the 95th Congress a Select Committee on Ethics 
to ``consider and report to the House on any bills or resolutions which 
may include provisions incorporating into permanent law applicable 
provisions and appropriate modifications of rule XLIII, rule XLIV, rule 
XLV, rule XLVI, and rule XLVII which may be referred to the select 
committee by the Speaker.'' The select committee was given exclusive 
jurisdiction over the bills and resolutions referred to it, and 
jurisdiction to adopt regulations and to issue advisory opinions 
respecting the application of those rules. The resolution creating that 
committee (H. Res. 383, Mar. 9, 1977, pp. 6811-16) provided that it 
expire on December 31, 1977, but the committee and its functions 
ultimately were extended through the ``completion of its official 
business'' (H. Res. 871, Oct. 31, 1977, p. 35957). The advisory opinions 
compiled by the former Select Committee on Ethics have been incorporated 
in the House Ethics Manual (102d Cong., 2d Sess.) prepared by the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.



                              Rule XLVIII.


               PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE.



Sec. 944a. Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence.

  1. (a) There is  hereby established a permanent select committee to be 
known as the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (hereinafter in 
this rule referred to as the ``select committee''). The select committee 
shall be composed of not more than sixteen Members, of whom not more 
than nine may be from the same party. The select committee shall include 
at least one Member from:


          (1) the Committee on Appropriations; 

[[Page 807]]

        

          (2) the Committee on National Security;

          (3) the Committee on International Relations; and

          (4) the Committee on the Judiciary.

  (b)(1) The Speaker of the House and the minority leader of the House 
shall be ex officio members of the select committee, but shall have no 
vote in the committee and shall not be counted for purposes of 
determining a quorum.

          (2) The Speaker and minority leader each may designate a 
member of their leadership staff to assist them in their capacity as ex 
officio members, with the same access to committee meetings, hearings, 
briefings, and materials as if employees of the select committee, and 
subject to the same security clearance and confidentiality requirements 
as employees of the select committee under this rule.


[[Page 808]]

  (c) No Member of the House other than the Speaker and the minority 
leader may serve on the select committee during more than four 
Congresses in any period of six successive Congresses (disregarding for 
this purpose any service for less than a full session in any Congress), 
except that the incumbent chairman or ranking minority member having 
served on the select committee for four Congresses and having served as 
chairman or ranking minority member for not more than one Congress shall 
be eligible for reappointment to the select committee as chairman or 
ranking minority member for one additional Congress. 

  2. (a) There shall be referred to the select committee all proposed 
legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating 
to the following:

          (1) The Central Intelligence Agency and Director of Central 
Intelligence, and the National Foreign Intelligence Program as defined 
in section 3(6) of the National Security Act of 1947.

          (2) Intelligence and intelligence-related activities of all 
other departments and agencies of the Government, including, but not 
limited to, the tactical intelligence and intelligence-related 
activities of the Department of Defense.

          (3) The organization or reorganization of any department or 
agency of the Government to the extent that the organization or 
reorganization relates to a function or activity involving intelligence 
or intelligence-related activities.

          (4) Authorizations for appropriations, both direct and 
indirect, for the following:

                  (A) The Central Intelligence Agency, Director of 
Central Intelligence, and the National Foreign Intelligence Program as 
defined in section 3(6) of the National Security Act of 1947.


[[Page 809]]
ligence and intelligence-related activities of the Department of 
Defense.
                  (B) Intelligence and intelligence-related activities 
of all other departments and agencies of the Government, including, but 
not limited to, the tactical intel

                  (C) Any department, agency, or subdivision, or program 
that is a successor to any agency or program named or referred to in 
subdivision (A) or (B).

  (b) Any proposed legislation initially reported by the select 
committee, except any legislation involving matters specified in 
subparagraph (1) or (4) (A) of paragraph (a), containing any matter 
otherwise within the jurisdiction of any standing committee shall, at 
the request of the chairman of such standing committee, be referred to 
such standing committee by the Speaker for its consideration of such 
matter and be reported to the House by such standing committee within 
the time prescribed by the Speaker in the referral; and any proposed 
legislation initially reported by any committee, other than the select 
committee, which contains any matter within the jurisdiction of the 
select committee shall, at the request of the chairman of the select 
committee, be referred by the Speaker to the select committee for its 
consideration of such matter and be reported to the House within the 
time prescribed by the Speaker in the referral.


[[Page 810]]

  (c) Nothing in this rule shall be construed as prohibiting or 
otherwise restricting the authority of any other committee to study and 
review any intelligence or intelligence-related activity to the extent 
that such activity directly affects a matter otherwise within the 
jurisdiction of such committee. 

  (d) Nothing in the rule shall be construed as amending, limiting, or 
otherwise changing the authority of any standing committee of the House 
to obtain full and prompt access to the product of the intelligence and 
intelligence-related activities of any department or agency of the 
Government relevant to a matter otherwise within the jurisdiction of 
such committee.

  3. (a) The select committee, for the purposes of accountability to the 
House, shall make regular and periodic reports to the House on the 
nature and the extent of the intelligence and intelligence-related 
activities of the various departments and agencies of the United States. 
Such committee shall promptly call to the attention of the House or to 
any other appropriate committee or committees of the House any matters 
requiring the attention of the House or such other committee or 
committees. In making such reports, the select committee shall proceed 
in a manner consistent with clause 7 to protect national security.


[[Page 811]]
lic at the discretion of the select committee. Nothing herein shall be 
construed as requiring the public disclosure in such reports of the 
names of individuals engaged in intelligence or intelligence-related 
activities for the United States or the divulging of intelligence 
methods employed or the sources of information on which such reports are 
based or the amount of funds authorized to be appropriated for 
intelligence and intelligence-related activities.
  (b) The select committee shall obtain an annual report from the 
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Secretary of Defense, 
the Secretary of State, and the Director of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation. Such reports shall review the intelligence and 
intelligence-related activities of the agency or department concerned 
and the intelligence and intelligence-related activities of foreign 
countries directed at the United States or its interest. An unclassified 
version of each report may be made available to the pub

  (c) On or before March 15 of each year, the select committee shall 
submit to the Committee on the Budget of the House the views and 
estimates described in section 301(c) of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 regarding matters within the jurisdiction of the select committee.

  4. To the extent not inconsistent with the provisions of this rule, 
the provisions of clauses 1, 2, 3, and 5(a), (b), (c) and (6)(a), (b), 
(c) of rule XI shall apply to the select committee, except that, 
notwithstanding the requirements of the first sentence of clause 2(g)(2) 
of rule XI, a majority of those present, there being in attendance the 
requisite number required under the rules of the select committee to be 
present for the purpose of taking testimony or receiving evidence, may 
vote to close a hearing whenever the majority determines that such 
testimony or evidence would endanger the national security.


[[Page 812]]
formation by such committee unless such employee or person has (1) 
agreed in writing and under oath to be bound by the rules of the House 
(including the jurisdiction of the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct and of the select committee as to the security of such 
information during and after the period of his employment or contractual 
agreement with such committee); and (2) received an appropriate security 
clearance as determined by such committee in consultation with the 
Director of Central Intelligence. The type of security clearance to be 
required in the case of any such employee or person shall, within the 
determination of such committee in consultation with the Director of 
Central Intelligence, be commensurate with the sensitivity of the 
classified information to which such employee or person will be given 
access by such committee.
  5. No employee of the select committee or any person engaged by 
contract or otherwise to perform services for or at the request of such 
committee shall be given access to any classified in


[[Page 813]]

  6. The select committee shall formulate and carry out such rules and 
procedures as it deems necessary to prevent the disclosure, without the 
consent of the person or persons concerned, of information in the 
possession of such committee which unduly infringes upon the privacy or 
which violates the constitutional rights of such person or persons. 
Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent such committee from 
publicly disclosing any such information in any case in which such 
committee determines that national interest in the disclosure of such 
information clearly outweighs any infringement on the privacy of any 
person or persons. 

  7. (a) The select committee may, subject to the provisions of this 
clause, disclose publicly any information in the possession of such 
committee after a determination by such committee that the public 
interest would be served by such disclosure. Whenever committee action 
is required to disclose any information under this clause, the committee 
shall meet to vote on the matter within five days after any member of 
the committee requests such a vote. No member of the select committee 
shall disclose any information, the disclosure of which requires a 
committee vote, prior to a vote by the committee on the question of the 
disclosure of such information or after such vote except in accordance 
with this clause.

  (b)(1) In any case in which the select committee votes to disclose 
publicly any information which has been classified under established 
security procedures, which has been submitted to it by the executive 
branch, and which the executive branch requests be kept secret, such 
committee shall notify the President of such vote.


[[Page 814]]
such disclosure is of such gravity that it outweighs any public 
interest in the disclosure.
  (2) The select committee may disclose publicly such information after 
the expiration of a five-day period following the day on which notice of 
such vote is transmitted to the President, unless, prior to the 
expiration of such five-day period, the President, personally in 
writing, notifies the committee that he objects to the disclosure of 
such information, provides his reasons therefor, and certifies that the 
threat to the national interest of the United States posed by 

  (3) If the President, personally, in writing, notifies the select 
committee of his objections to the disclosure of such information as 
provided in subparagraph (2), such committee may, by majority vote, 
refer the question of this disclosure of such information with a 
recommendation thereon to the House for consideration. The committee 
shall not publicly disclose such information without leave of the House.

  (4) Whenever the select committee votes to refer the question of 
disclosure of any information to the House under subparagraph (3), the 
chairman shall, not later than the first day on which the House is in 
session following the day on which the vote occurs, report the matter to 
the House for its consideration.

  (5) If within four calendar days on which the House is in session, 
after such recommendation is reported, no motion has been made by the 
chairman of the select committee to consider, in closed session, the 
matter reported under subparagraph (4), then such a motion will be 
deemed privileged and may be made by any Member. The motion under this 
subparagraph shall not be subject to debate or amendment. When made, it 
shall be decided without intervening motion, except one motion to 
adjourn.


[[Page 815]]
the pending question, in closed session, shall be, ``Shall the House 
approve the recommendation of the select committee?''.
  (6) If the House adopts a motion to resolve into closed session, the 
Speaker shall then be authorized to declare a recess subject to the call 
of the Chair. At the expiration of such recess, 

  (7) After not more than two hours of debate on the motion, such debate 
to be equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the select committee, or their designees, the 
previous question shall be considered as ordered and the House, without 
intervening motion except one motion to adjourn, shall immediately vote 
on the question, in open session but without divulging the information 
with respect to which the vote is being taken. If the recommendation of 
the select committee is not agreed to, the question shall be deemed 
recommitted to the select committee for further recommendation.

  (c)(1) No information in the possession of the select committee 
relating to the lawful intelligence or intelligence-related activities 
of any department or agency of the United States which has been 
classified under established security procedures and which the select 
committee, pursuant to paragraphs (a) or (b) of this clause, has 
determined should not be disclosed shall be made available to any person 
by a Member, officer, or employee of the House except as provided in 
subparagraphs (2) and (3).


[[Page 816]]
Member of the House to attend any hearing of the committee which is 
closed to the public. Whenever the select committee makes such 
information available (other than to the Speaker), the committee shall 
keep a written record showing, in the case of any particular 
information, which committee or which Members of the House received such 
information. No Member of the House who, and no committee which, 
receives any information under this subparagraph, shall disclose such 
information except in a closed session of the House.
  (2) The select committee shall, under such regulations as the 
committee shall prescribe, make any information described in 
subparagraph (1) available to any other committee or any other Member of 
the House and permit any other 

  (d) The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall investigate 
any unauthorized disclosure of intelligence or intelligence-related 
information by a Member, officer, or employee of the House in violation 
of paragraph (c) and report to the House concerning any allegation which 
it finds to be substantiated.


[[Page 817]]
a Member, or removal from office or employment or punishment for 
contempt, in the case of an officer or employee.
  (e) Upon the request of any person who is subject to any such 
investigation, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct shall 
release to such individual at the conclusion of its investigation a 
summary of its investigation, together with its findings. If, at the 
conclusion of its investigation, the Committee on Standards of Official 
Conduct determines that there has been a significant breach of 
confidentiality or unauthorized disclosure by a Member, officer, or 
employee of the House, it shall report its findings to the House and 
recommend appropriate action such as censure, removal from committee 
membership, or expulsion from the House, in the case of 

  8. The select committee is authorized to permit any personal 
representative of the President, designated by the President to serve as 
a liaison to such committee, to attend any closed meeting of such 
committee.

  9. Subject to the rules of the House, no funds shall be appropriated 
for any fiscal year, with the exception of a continuing bill or 
resolution continuing appropriations, or amendment thereto, or 
conference report thereon, to, or for use of, any department or agency 
of the United States to carry out any of the following activities, 
unless such funds shall have been previously authorized by a bill or 
joint resolution passed by the House during the same or preceding fiscal 
year to carry out such activity for such fiscal year:

          (a) The activities of the Central Intelligence Agency and the 
Director of Central Intelligence.

          (b) The activities of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

          (c) The activities of the National Security Agency.

          (d) The intelligence and intelligence related activities of 
other agencies and subdivisions of the Department of Defense.


[[Page 818]]

          (e) The intelligence and intelligence-related activities of 
the Department of State. 

          (f) The intelligence and intelligence-related activities of 
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including all activities of the 
Intelligence Division.

  10. (a) As used in this rule, the term ``intelligence and 
intelligence-related activities'' includes (1) the collection, analysis, 
production, dissemination, or use of information which relates to any 
foreign country, or any government, political group, party, military 
force, movement or other association in such foreign country, and which 
relates to the defense, foreign policy, national security, or related 
policies of the United States, and other activity which is in support of 
such activities; (2) activities taken to counter similar activities 
directed against the United States; (3) covert or clandestine activities 
affecting the relations of the United States with any foreign 
government, political group, party, military force, movement, or other 
association; (4) the collection, analysis, production, dissemination, or 
use of information about activities of persons within the United States, 
its territories and possessions, or nationals of the United States 
abroad whose political and related activities pose, or may be considered 
by any department, agency, bureau, office, division, instrumentality, or 
employee of the United States to pose, a threat to the internal security 
of the United States, and covert or clandestine activities directed 
against such persons.


[[Page 819]]
council, establishment, or office within the Federal Government.
  (b) As used in this rule, the term ``department or agency'' includes 
any organization, committee, 

  (c) For purposes of this rule, reference to any department, agency, 
bureau, or subdivision shall include a reference to any successor 
department, agency, bureau, or subdivision to the extent that such 
successor engages in intelligence or intelligence-related activities now 
conducted by the department, agency, bureau, or subdivision referred to 
in this rule.


  11. Clause 6(a) of rule XXVIII does not apply to conference committee 
meetings respecting legislation (or any part thereof) reported from the 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.



Sec. 944b.

  This rule was  adopted on July 14, 1977 (H. Res. 
658, pp. 22932-49) and has had several technical amendments: (1) on 
January 25, 1979, to change the size of the Select Committee from 
thirteen to fourteen members (H. Res. 70, p. 1023); (2) on February 5, 
1979, to change the name of the Committee on International Relations to 
Foreign Affairs (H. Res. 89, pp. 1848-49); (3) on January 30, 1985, to 
change the size to not more than sixteen members (H. Res. 33, p. 1271); 
(4) in the 100th Congress to change the size to not more than seventeen 
members and to change the cross-reference in clause 7(c)(1) to include 
paragraph (a) or (b) (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1987, p. 6); (5) in the 101st 
Congress to change the size to not more than nineteen Members (H. Res. 
5, Jan. 3, 1989, p. 73) and to permit the Speaker to attend meetings and 
have access to information (H. Res. 268, Nov. 14, 1989, p. 28789); and 
(6) in the 102d Congress to strike obsolete language relating to tenure 
restrictions in clause 1 and relating to the requirement for 
authorizations of appropriations in clause 9 (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, 
p. ----).



[[Page 820]]
to be determined by less than two members) (H. Res. 165, Mar. 29, 1979, 
p. 6820); and (3) clause 4 was amended to provide the Select Committee 
with permanent professional and clerical staff as provided by clauses 6 
(a) and (b) of rule XI (H. Res. 58, Mar. 1, 1983, p. 3241).
  More substantive amendments have been adopted as follows: (1) clause 4 
was amended to make clause 6(c) of rule XI applicable to salaries of the 
staff of the Permanent Select Committee (H. Res. 5, Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 
7-16); (2) clause 4 was amended to make an exception to the provisions 
of clause 2(g)(2) of rule XI (requiring a majority of the membership of 
a committee be present in order to vote to close a hearing) to allow the 
Select Committee to vote to go into executive session if a majority of 
the members present, there being in attendance the requisite number 
under the Select Committee rules for the purpose of taking testimony, 
determine that it is necessary to do so for national security reasons 
(but in no event 

  In the 104th Congress the rule was amended in several different 
respects: (1) to limit the size of the panel to 16, with no more than 
nine members from the same party; (2) to set the tenure limitation at 
four Congresses within a period of six Congresses, with exceptions for 
ongoing service as chairman or ranking minority member; (3) to make the 
Speaker (rather than the Majority Leader) an ex officio member of the 
panel (as opposed to his former free access to its meetings and 
information); (4) to clarify jurisdiction over the National Foreign 
Intelligence Program and the tactical intelligence and intelligence-
related activities of the Department of Defense; (5) to clarify staffing 
arrangements for the Speaker and the Minority Leader as ex officio 
members; and (6) to conform references to renamed committees (sec. 221, 
H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).

  The resolution creating the Permanent Select Committee directed the 
committee to make a study with respect to intelligence and intelligence-
related activities of the U.S. and to report thereon, together with 
appropriate recommendations, not later than the close of the 95th 
Congress (sec. 3, H. Res. 658; see H. Rept. 95-1795, Oct. 14, 1978), and 
transferred to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence all 
records, files, documents and other materials of the Select Committee on 
Intelligence of the 94th Congress in the possession, custody, or control 
of the Clerk of the House.

  The Permanent Select Committee has concurrent jurisdiction with the 
Committee on the Judiciary over bills concerning electronic surveillance 
of foreign intelligence (Nov. 4, 1977, pp. 37070-71); concurrent 
jurisdiction with the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology (now 
Science) and Foreign Affairs (now International Relations) over a bill 
establishing a satellite monitoring commission (Mar. 15, 1988, p. 3847); 
and sole jurisdiction over a resolution of inquiry directing the 
Secretary of Defense to furnish to the House documents and information 
on Cuban or other foreign military or paramilitary presence in Panama or 
the Canal Zone (Apr. 6, 1978, p. 9105).







[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 821-824]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-133]

[[Page 821]]

 
  Clause 7(b) of rule XLVIII places restrictions on the Select Committee 
on Intelligence only with respect to the public disclosure of classified 
information in the possession of that committee, and does not prevent 
the House from determining to release any matter properly presented to 
it in secret session pursuant to rule XXIX (Speaker pro tempore Wright, 
Feb. 25, 1980, p. 3618). 


                               Rule XLIX.


          ESTABLISHMENT OF STATUTORY LIMIT ON THE PUBLIC DEBT.


[[Page 822]]
dent for his signature (and otherwise treated for all purposes) in the 
manner provided for bills and joint resolutions generally.


Sec. 945. Public Debt Limit.

  1. Upon the  adoption by the 
Congress (under section 301 or 304 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974) of any concurrent resolution on the budget setting forth as the 
appropriate level of the public debt for the period to which such 
concurrent resolution relates an amount which is different from the 
amount of the statutory limit on the public debt that would otherwise be 
in effect for such period, the enrolling clerk of the House of 
Representatives shall prepare an engrossment of a joint resolution, in 
the form prescribed in clause 2, increasing or decreasing the statutory 
limit on the public debt. The vote by which the conference report on the 
concurrent resolution on the budget was agreed to in the House (or by 
which the concurrent resolution itself was adopted in the House, if 
there is no conference report) shall be deemed to have been a vote in 
favor of such joint resolution upon final passage in the House of 
Representatives. Upon the engrossment of such joint resolution it shall 
be deemed to have passed the House of Representatives and been duly 
certified and examined; the engrossed copy shall be signed by the Clerk 
and transmitted to the Senate for further legislative action; and (upon 
final passage by both Houses) the joint resolution shall be signed by 
the presiding officers of both Houses and presented to the Presi


  2. The matter after the resolving clause in any joint resolution 
described in clause 1 shall be as follows: ``That subsection (b) of 
section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking out 
the dollar limitation contained in such subsection and inserting in lieu 
thereof `$        '.'', with the blank being filled in with a limitation 
equal to the appropriate level of the public debt as set forth, pursuant 
to section 301(a)(5) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, in the 
concurrent resolution on the budget (whether such resolution was adopted 
under section 301, 304, or 310 of such Act). Only one joint resolution 
shall be prepared under clause 1 upon the adoption of any concurrent 
resolution on the budget; and, if the concurrent resolution set forth a 
different appropriate level of the public debt (pursuant to such section 
301(a)(5)) for each of two separate periods, the blank referred to in 
the preceding sentence shall be filled in with both the limitation which 
is to apply for the later of the two periods (specifying the date on 
which that limitation is to take effect) and the limitation which is to 
apply for the earlier of such periods.


[[Page 823]]
ment accompanying the conference report on any concurrent resolution on 
the budget, shall contain a clear statement of the effect under this 
rule that the adoption by both the House and the Senate of such 
concurrent resolution in the form in which it is being reported (and the 
adoption of the joint resolution thereupon prepared and enrolled under 
clause 1) would have upon the statutory limit on the public debt. It 
shall not be in order in the House of Representatives at any time to 
consider or adopt any concurrent resolution on the budget (or agree to 
any conference report thereon) if at that time the report accompanying 
such concurrent resolution (or the joint statement accompanying such 
conference report) does not comply with the requirements of this clause.
  3. The report of the Committee on the Budget of the House of 
Representatives accompanying any concurrent resolution on the budget 
under section 301(d) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as well as 
the joint explanatory state

  4. Nothing in this rule shall be construed as limiting or otherwise 
affecting the power of the House of Representatives or the Senate to 
consider and pass a bill which (without regard to the procedures under 
clause 1) changes the statutory limit on the public debt most recently 
established under this rule or otherwise; and the rights of Members and 
committees of the House with respect to the introduction, consideration, 
and reporting of any such bill shall be determined as though this rule 
had not been adopted.


[[Page 824]]
interest by the United States (except such guaranteed obligations as 
may be held by the Secretary of the Treasury), determined under section 
3101(b) of title 31 after the application of section 3101(a), title 31 
which may be outstanding at any one time.

  5. As used in this rule, the term ``statutory limit on the public 
debt'' means the maximum face amount of obligations issued under 
authority of chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code and obligations 
guaranteed as to principal and 







[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 825-828]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-134]

[[Page 825]]

 
  This rule was added in the 96th Congress by Public Law 96-78 (93 Stat. 
589) and was originally applicable to concurrent resolutions on the 
budget for fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 1980 (fiscal 
1981). However, in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 642, Apr. 23, 1980, p. 
8800), the provisions of that public law amending the rules of the House 
were made applicable to the third concurrent resolution on the budget 
for Fiscal Year 1980 as well as the first concurrent resolution on the 
budget for Fiscal 1981 (H. Con. Res. 307, June 12, 1980, pp. 14505-19; 
see H.J. Res. 569 and H.J. Res. 570, June 13, 1980, p. 14609). 
Conforming changes were made in clauses 2 and 5 of this rule with the 
codification of title 31, United States Code, by Public Law 97-258 (96 
Stat. 1066). The rule was amended in the 98th Congress (H. Res. 241, 
June 23, 1983, p. 17162) to reflect the enactment into law (P.L. 98-34) 
of a new permanent, rather than temporary, debt limit. Clause 2 of the 
rule was rewritten, and clause 1 modified, to change the form of the 
joint resolution engrossed pursuant to the rule in order to delete 
references to a temporary debt limit and to reflect instead changes in a 
permanent debt limit. The rules change also provided that where a budget 
resolution contains more than one public debt limit figure (for the 
current and the next fiscal year), only one joint resolution be 
engrossed, containing the debt limit figure for the current fiscal year 
with a time limitation, and the debt limit figure for the following 
fiscal year as the permanent limit. The date of final House action in 
adopting the conference report on the concurrent resolution on the 
budget, rather than the date of final Senate action, when later, is the 
appropriate date under this rule for deeming the House to have passed 
the joint resolution (July 14, 1986, p. 16316; Speaker Wright, June 25, 
1987, p. 17424). Another conforming change in clause 1 was made in the 
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-177, 
Dec. 12, 1985, p. 36209) to delete reference to a second concurrent 
resolution on the budget (no longer required under section 310 of the 
Budget Act). This rule was rendered inapplicable to a conference report 
on a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 1996 (sec. 3, 
H. Res. 149, May 17, 1995, p. ----). 


                                 Rule L.


                  PROCEDURE FOR RESPONSE TO SUBPOENAS.



Sec. 946. Response to subpoenas.

  1. When any  Member, 
officer, or employee of the House of Representatives is properly served 
with a subpoena or other judicial order directing appearance as a 
witness relating to the official functions of the House or for the 
production or disclosure of any documents relating to the official 
functions of the House, such Member, officer, or employee shall comply, 
consistently with the privileges and rights of the House, with said 
subpoena or other judicial order as hereinafter provided, unless 
otherwise determined pursuant to the provisions of this rule.


  2. Upon receipt of a properly served subpoena or other judicial order 
directing appearance as a witness relating to the official functions of 
the House or for the production or disclosure of any documents relating 
to the official functions of the House, such Member, officer, or 
employee shall promptly notify, in writing, the Speaker of its receipt 
and such notification shall then be promptly laid before the House by 
the Speaker, except that during a period of recess or adjournment of 
longer than three days, no such notification to the House shall be 
required. However, upon the reconvening of the House, such notification 
shall then be promptly laid before the House by the Speaker.


[[Page 826]]
determine whether the issuance of the subpoena or other judicial order 
is a proper exercise of the court's jurisdiction, is material and 
relevant, and is consistent with the privileges and rights of the House. 
The Member, officer, or employee shall notify the Speaker prior to 
seeking judicial determination of these matters.
  3. Once notification has been laid before the House, the Member, 
officer, or employee shall 

  4. Upon determination whether the subpoena or other judicial order is 
a proper exercise of the court's jurisdiction, is material and relevant, 
and is consistent with the privileges and rights of the House, the 
Member, officer, or employee shall immediately notify, in writing, the 
Speaker of such a determination.

  5. The Speaker shall inform the House of the determination of whether 
the subpoena or other judicial order is a proper exercise of the court's 
jurisdiction, is material and relevant, and is consistent with the 
privileges and rights of the House, and shall generally describe the 
records or information sought, except that during any recess or 
adjournment of the House for longer than three days, no such 
notification is required. However, upon the reconvening of the House, 
such notification shall then be promptly laid before the House by the 
Speaker.


[[Page 827]]
House adopts a resolution to the contrary; except that under no 
circumstances shall any minutes or transcripts of executive sessions, or 
any evidence of witnesses in respect thereto, be disclosed or copied. 
Should the House be in recess or adjournment for longer than three days, 
the Speaker may authorize compliance or take such other action as he 
deems appropriate under the circumstances during the pendency of such 
recess or adjournment. And upon the reconvening of the House, all 
matters having transpired under this clause shall be laid promptly 
before the House by the Speaker.
  6. Upon such notification to the House that said subpoena is a proper 
exercise of the court's jurisdiction, is material and relevant, and is 
consistent with the privileges and rights of the House, the Member, 
officer, or employee shall comply with such subpoena or other judicial 
order by supplying certified copies, unless the 

  7. A copy of this rule shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the House 
to any of said courts whenever any such subpoena or other judicial order 
is issued and served on a Member, officer, or employee of the House.


  8. Nothing in this rule shall be construed to deprive, condition or 
waive the constitutional or legal rights applicable or available to any 
Member, officer, or employee of the House, or of the House itself, or 
the right of a Member or the House to assert such privilege or right 
before any court in the United States, or the right of the House 
thereafter to assert such privilege or immunity before any court in the 
United States.


[[Page 828]]
gresses (H. Res. 10, Jan. 15, 1979, p. 19) when general authority was 
granted to respond to subpoenas and a procedure was established for 
automatic compliance without the necessity of a House vote. This 
standing authority was clarified and revised later in the 96th Congress 
by H. Res. 722 (Sept. 17, 1980, pp. 25777-90) and forms the basis for 
the present rule.
  Rule L was added in the 97th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1981, p. 98) 
and provides general authority to the Members, officers, or employees to 
comply with subpoenas served on them in relation to their official 
functions and establishes the procedure by which subpoenas shall be 
complied with. Until the 95th Congress, whenever a Member, officer, or 
employee received a subpoena, the House would decide by adopting a 
resolution granting authority to the person to respond. This case-by-
case approach was changed in the 95th (H. Res. 10, Jan. 4, 1977, p. 73) 
and 96th Con

  In the 102d Congress, the House considered as questions of the 
privileges of the House resolutions: responding to a subpoena for 
records of the ``bank'' in the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (Apr. 29, 
1992, p. ----); responding to a contemporaneous ``request'' for such 
records from a Special Counsel (Apr. 29, 1992, p. ----); and authorizing 
an officer of the House to release certain documents in response to 
another such request from the Special Counsel (May 28, 1992, p. ----).





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 828-836]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-135]

 
  Under clause 2 of rule L, the Speaker promptly lays before the House a 
communication notifying him of the receipt of a subpoena, but the rule 
does not require that the text of a subpoena be printed in the Record 
(July 31, 1992, p. ----).


                                Rule LI.


                          EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES.



Sec. 946a. Employment Practices.

  1. The Committee  on House 
Oversight shall have authority to issue rules and regulations applying 
the rights and protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act in the House, 
including, but not limited to, determination of exemption categories, 
permitting the use of compensatory time as compensation under the 
maximum work week provisions of the Act, describing the recordkeeping 
requirements and providing that such recordkeeping provisions do not 
apply with respect to employees exempted pursuant to the Committee's 
Rules and Regulations.
Nondiscrimination in employment




[[Page 829]]
color, national origin, religion, sex (including marital or parental 
status), disability, or age.
  2. (a) Personnel actions affecting employment positions in the House 
of Representatives shall be made free from discrimination based on race, 

  (b) Interpretations under paragraph (a) shall reflect the principles 
of current law, as generally applicable to employment.

  (c) Paragraph (a) does not prohibit the taking into consideration of--

          (1) the domicile of an individual with respect to a position 
under the clerk-hire allowance; or

          (2) the political affiliation of an individual with respect to 
a position under the clerk-hire allowance or a position on the staff of 
a committee or a position under all support offices, except as otherwise 
stated in the Rules of the House of Representatives.
Procedure

  3. The procedure for consideration of alleged violations of clause 2 
consists of three steps as follows:

          (a) step I, Counseling and Mediation, as set forth in clause 
5;

          (b) step II, Formal Complaint, Hearing, and Review by the 
Office of Fair Employment Practices, as set forth in clause 6; and

          (c) step III, Final Review by Review Panel, as set forth in 
clause 7.
Office of fair employment practices


[[Page 830]]
and Hearing Officers of the Office shall be appointed by, and serve at 
the pleasure of, the Chairman and the ranking minority party member of 
the Committee on House Oversight, acting jointly, and shall be under the 
administrative direction of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. 
The Office shall be located in the District of Columbia.
Step i: counseling and mediation
  4. There is established an Office of Fair Employment Practices 
(hereafter in this rule referred to as the ``Office''), which shall 
carry out functions assigned under this rule. Employees 

  5. (a) An individual aggrieved by an alleged violation of clause 2 may 
request counseling by counselors in the Office, who shall provide 
information with respect to rights and related matters under that 
clause. A request for counseling shall be made not later than one 
hundred and eighty days after the alleged violation and may be oral or 
written, at the option of the individual. The period for counseling is 
thirty days, unless the employee and the Office agree to reduce the time 
period. The Office may not notify the employing authority of the 
counseling before the beginning of mediation or the filing of a formal 
complaint, whichever occurs first.

  (b) If, after counseling, the individual desires to proceed, the 
Office shall attempt to resolve the alleged violation through mediation 
between the individual and the employing authority.
Step ii: formal complaint, hearing, and review by the office of fair 

        employment practices


[[Page 831]]
a formal complaint with the Office. Not later than ten days after 
filing the formal complaint, the individual may file with the Office a 
written request for a hearing on the complaint.
  6. (a) Not later than thirty days after the end of the counseling 
period, the individual may file 

  (b) The hearing shall be conducted--

          (1) not later than forty days after filing of the written 
request under paragraph (a);

          (2) on the record by a Hearing Officer of the Office appointed 
under the procedures set forth in clause 4; and

          (3) to the greatest extent practicable, in accordance with the 
principles and procedures set forth in sections 555 and 556 of title 5, 
United States Code.

  (c) Not later than thirty days after the hearing, the Office shall 
issue a written decision to the parties. The decision shall clearly 
state the issues raised by the complaint, and shall contain a 
determination as to whether a violation of clause 2 has occurred.
Step iii: final review by review panel

  7. (a) In General. Not later than twenty days after issuance of the 
decision under clause 6, any party may seek formal review of the 
decision by filing a written request with the Office. The formal review 
shall be conducted by a panel constituted at the beginning of each 
Congress and composed of--


[[Page 832]]

          (1) two elected officers or employees of the House of 
Representatives, appointed by the Speaker; 

          (2) two employees of the House of Representatives appointed by 
the minority leader of the House of Representatives;

          (3) two members of the Committee on House Oversight (one of 
whom shall be appointed as chairman of the panel), appointed by the 
Chairman of that Committee; and

          (4) two members of the Committee on House Oversight, appointed 
by the ranking minority party member of that Committee.
If any member of the panel withdraws from a particular review, the 
appointing authority for such member shall appoint another officer, 
employee, or Member of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, 
to be a temporary member of the panel for purposes of that review only.


[[Page 833]]

Resolution by agreement
  (b) The review under this clause shall consist of a hearing (conducted 
in the manner described in clause 6(b)(3)), if such hearing is 
considered necessary by the panel, and an examination of the record, 
together with any statements or other documents the panel deems 
appropriate. A tie vote by the panel is an affirmation of the decision 
of the Office. The panel shall complete the review and submit a written 
decision to the parties and to the Committee on House Oversight not 
later than sixty days after filing of the request under paragraph (a), 
except that when the House has adjourned sine die, in which case an 
extension of up to sixty additional days is authorized. 

  8. If, after a formal complaint is filed under clause 6, the parties 
resolve the issues involved, the parties shall enter into a written 
agreement, which shall be effective--

          (1) in the case of a matter under review by the Office under 
clause 6, if approved by the Office; and

          (2) in the case of a matter under review by a panel under 
clause 7, if approved by the panel.
Remedies

  9. The Office or a review panel, as the case may be, may order one or 
more of the following remedies:

          (a) monetary compensation, to be paid from the clerk-hire 
allowance of a Member, or from personnel funds of a committee of the 
House or other entity, as appropriate;

          (b) monetary compensation, to be paid from the contingent fund 
of the House of Representatives;

          (c) injunctive relief;

          (d) costs and attorney fees; and

          (e) employment, reinstatement to employment, or promotion 
(with or without back pay).
Costs of attending hearings


[[Page 834]]
the location of the hearing. Witnesses required to attend the hearings 
by the Hearing Officer as necessary to a fair and justiciable hearing 
shall be reimbursed for actual and reasonable costs of attending the 
hearing if they reside outside the location of the hearing. Expenses are 
to he paid from the contingent fund of the House of Representatives.
Prohibition of intimidation
  10. An individual with respect to whom a hearing is held under this 
rule shall be reimbursed for actual and reasonable costs of attending 
the hearing, if the individual resides outside 

  11. Any intimidation of, or reprisal against, any person by an 
employing authority because of the exercise of a right under this rule 
is a violation of clause 2.
Closed hearings and confidentiality

  12. All hearings under this rule shall be closed. All information 
relating to any procedure under this rule is confidential, except that a 
decision of the Office under clause 6 or a decision of a review panel 
under clause 7 shall be published, if the decision constitutes a final 
disposition of the matter.
Exclusivity of procedures and remedies

  13. The procedures and remedies under this rule are exclusive except 
to the extent that the Rules of the House of Representatives and the 
Rules of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct provide 
for additional procedures and remedies.
Requests for witnesses and information


[[Page 835]]
Panel may issue, and the addressees shall comply with, written requests 
for the production of documents and the attendance of witnesses, if such 
requests are necessary and relevant to the proper examination of the 
issues.
Internal procedures for resolution of possible violations
  14. The Office of Fair Employment Practices and the Fair Employment 
Practices Review 

  15. It is the policy of the House of Representatives to encourage each 
employing authority to establish internal procedures for examining and 
resolving possible violations of this rule. To the greatest extent 
practicable, the Office of Fair Employment Practices shall take such 
action (consistent with the rights of the parties) as may be necessary 
to encourage initial use of such procedures.
Definitions

  16. As used in this rule--

          (a) the term ``employment position'' means, with respect to 
the House of Representatives, a position the pay for which is disbursed 
by the Clerk of the House of Representatives, or other official 
designated by the House of Representatives, and any employment position 
in a legislative service organization or other entity that is paid 
through funds derived from the clerk-hire allowance;


[[Page 836]]
Budget Office, with the power to appoint the employee;
          (b) the term ``employing authority'' means, the Member of the 
House of Representatives or elected officer of the House of 
Representatives, or the Director of the Congressional 

          (c) the term ``Member of the House of Representatives'' means 
a Representative in, or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 
Congress; and


          (d) the term ``elected officer of the House of 
Representatives'' means an elected officer of the House of 
Representatives (other than the Speaker and the Chaplain).





[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 103-342]
[Page 836-852]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]
[DOCID:hrmanual-136]

 
  This provision grew out of the Fair Employment Practices Resolution 
that was first adopted in the 100th Congress (H. Res. 558, Oct. 3, 1988, 
p. 27840) and renewed in the 101st Congress (H. Res. 15, Jan. 3, 1989, 
p. 85), and through which the provisions of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-336, July 26, 1990) apply to the 
House. It was incorporated by reference in a standing rule LI in the 
102d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. ----). Its full text, with 
certain amendments, was codified in rule LI in the 103d Congress (H. 
Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----). 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 viability of this rule under the 
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 is set forth in section 506 of 
that Act (2 U.S.C. 1435).


                                Rule LII.


                      APPLICATION OF CERTAIN LAWS.



Sec. 946b. Office of Compliance.

  1. There is established  an 
Office of Compliance which shall have a Board of Directors consisting of 
5 individuals appointed jointly by the Speaker and the minority leader. 
Appointments of the first 5 members of the Board of Directors shall be 
completed not later than 120 days after the beginning of the One Hundred 
Fourth Congress.



[[Page 837]]
through 16 of House Resolution 578, One Hundred Third Congress, 
including the issuance of regulations, to implement the requirements of 
the following laws to the House of Representatives:
  2. (a) The Office of Compliance shall carry out the duties and 
functions set forth in sections 2 

          (1) The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et 
seq.), effective at the beginning of the second session of the One 
Hundred Fourth Congress.

          (2) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e 
et seq.), effective at the beginning of the second session of the One 
Hundred Fourth Congress.

          (3) The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
12101 et seq.), effective at the beginning of the second session of the 
One Hundred Fourth Congress.

          (4) The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 
U.S.C. 621 et seq.) (including remedies available to private employees), 
effective at the beginning of the second session of the One Hundred 
Fourth Congress.

          (5) Titles I and V of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 
(29 U.S.C. 2611 et seq.), effective at the beginning of the second 
session of the One Hundred Fourth Congress.


[[Page 838]]

          (6) The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (other than 
section 19) (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) (subject to paragraph (c)), 
effective at the beginning of the One Hundred Fifth Congress. 

          (7) Chapter 71 (relating to Federal labor management 
relations) of title 5, United States Code, effective at the beginning of 
the One Hundred Fifth Congress.

          (8) The Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (29 U.S.C. 
2001 et seq.), effective at the beginning of the second session of the 
One Hundred Fourth Congress, except that this Act shall not apply to the 
United States Capitol Police.

          (9) The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (29 
U.S.C. 2101 et seq.), effective at the beginning of the second session 
of the One Hundred Fourth Congress.

          (10) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791), effective 
at the beginning of the second session of the One Hundred Fourth 
Congress.

  (b) Any provision of Federal law shall, to the extent that it relates 
to the terms and conditions of employment (including hiring, promotion 
or demotion, salary and wages, overtime compensation, benefits, work 
assignments or reassignments, termination, protection from 
discrimination in personnel actions, health and safety of employees, and 
family and medical leave) of employees apply to the House in accordance 
with this rule.


[[Page 839]]
year following the fiscal year in which the citation is issued, subject 
to the availability of funds appropriated for that purpose after the 
receipt of the citation.
  (c) The House shall comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Act 
of 1970 as follows: If a citation of a violation of such Act is 
received, action to abate the violation shall take place as soon as 
possible, but no later than the fiscal 

  3. (a)(1) The Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Office 
shall appoint, may establish the compensation of, and may terminate, 
subject to the approval of the Board of Directors, an Executive Director 
(referred to in this rule as the ``executive director''). The 
compensation of the executive director may not exceed the compensation 
for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, 
United States Code. The executive director shall be an individual with 
training or expertise in the application of the laws referred to in 
clause 2. The appointment of the first executive director shall be 
completed no later than 120 days after the initial appointment of the 
Board of Directors.

          (2) The executive director may not be an individual who holds 
or may have held the position of Member of the House of Representatives 
or Senator. The executive director may not be an individual who holds 
the position of employee of the House or the Senate but the executive 
director may be an individual who held such a position at least 4 years 
before appointment as executive director. The term of office of the 
executive director shall be a single term of 5 years.


[[Page 840]]
tion of Lobbying Act to register with the Secretary of the Senate or 
the Clerk shall be considered eligible for appointment to, or service 
on, the Board of Directors.
  (b)(1)(A) No individual who engages in, or is otherwise employed in, 
lobbying of the Congress and who is required under the Federal Regula

                  (B) No member of the Board of Directors may hold or 
may have held the position of Member of the House of Representatives or 
Senator, may hold the position of employee of the House or Senate, or 
may have held such a position within 4 years of the date of appointment.

          (2) If during a term of office a member of the Board of 
Directors engages in an activity described in subparagraph (1)(A), such 
position shall be declared vacant and a successor shall be selected in 
accordance with paragraph (a)(1).

          (3) A vacancy in the Board of Directors shall be filled in the 
manner in which the original appointment was made.

  (c)(1) Except as provided in subparagraph (2), membership on the Board 
of Directors shall be for 5 years. A member shall only be eligible for 
appointment for a single term of office.

          (2) Of the members first appointed to the Board of Directors--

                  (A) 1 shall have a term of office of 3 years,

                  (B) 2 shall have a term of office of 4 years, and

                  (C) 2 shall have a term of office of 5 years, 

[[Page 841]]

                

        as designated at the time of appointment by the persons 
specified in paragraph (a)(1).

          (3) Any member of the Board of Directors may be removed from 
office by a majority decision of the appointing authorities described in 
paragraph (a)(1) and only for--

                  (A) disability that substantially prevents the member 
from carrying out the duties of the member,

                  (B) incompetence,

                  (C) neglect of duty,

                  (D) malfeasance, or

                  (E) a felony or conduct involving moral turpitude.


  (d) The Chairperson of the Board of Directors shall be appointed from 
the members of the Board of Directors by the members of the Board.


  The duties and functions of the Office of Compliance, as set forth in 
sections 2 through 16 of House Resolution 578 of the 103d Congress (Oct. 
7, 1994, p. ----), as incorporated by reference in clause 2(a) of rule 
LII, are as follows:


                          SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

  As used in sections 2 through 16:

          (1) The term ``employee of the House'' means any individual 

        (other than a Member) whose pay is disbursed by the Director of 

        Non-legislative and Financial Services or any individual to whom 

        supervision and all other employee-related matters were 

        transferred to the Sergeant-at-Arms pursuant to direction of the 

        Committee on Appropriations in House Report 103-517 of the One 

        Hundred Third Congress, and such term includes an applicant for 

        the position of employee and a former employee.

          (2) The term ``employing authority'' means, with respect to an 

        employee, the Member of the House of Representatives or elected 

        officer of the House of Representatives, or the Director of the 

        Congressional Budget Office, with the power to appoint the 

        employee. 

[[Page 842]]

        

          (3) The term ``Member of the House of Representatives'' means 

        a Representative in, or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

        the Congress.

          (4) The term ``elected officer of the House of 

        Representatives'' means an elected officer of the House of 

        Representatives (other than the Speaker and the Chaplain).

          (5) The term ``Office'' refers to the Office of Compliance 

        established by rule LII of the Rules of the House of 


        Representatives.


                      SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF LAWS.

  (a) The laws set forth in clause 2 of rule LII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives shall apply, as prescribed by that rule, to the 
House of Representatives.


  (b) The laws referred to in rule LI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives which apply on December 31, 1994, to House employees 
shall continue to apply to such employees until the effective date such 
laws are made applicable in accordance with this resolution.


  SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF COMPLIANCE.

  (a)(1) Each member of the Board of Directors shall be compensated at a 
rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay 
prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 
title 5, United States Code, for each day (including travel time) during 
which such member is engaged in the performance of the duties of the 
Board.

  (2) Each member of the Board of Directors shall receive travel 
expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized 
for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 
United States Code, for each day the member is engaged in the 
performance of duties away from the home or regular place of business of 
the member.

  (b) The executive director may appoint and fix the compensation of 
such staff, including hearing officers, as are necessary to carry out 
this resolution.

  (c) The executive director may, with the prior consent of the 
Government department or agency concerned, use the services of any such 
department or agency, including the services of members or personnel of 
the General Accounting Office Personnel Appeals Board.


  (d) The executive director may procure the temporary (not to exceed 1 
year) or intermittent services of individual consultants or 
organizations thereof.


                     SEC. 5. STUDY AND REGULATIONS.


[[Page 843]]
Board of Directors shall complete such study and report the results to 
House of Representatives not later than 180 days after the date of the 
first appointment of the first executive director.
  (a) The Board of Directors shall conduct a study of the manner in 
which the laws referred to in clause 2(a) of rule LII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives should apply to the House of 
Representatives. The 

  (b) On an ongoing basis the Board of Directors--

          (1) shall determine which of the laws referred to in clause 

        2(b) of rule LII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

        should apply to the House of Representatives and if it should, 

        the manner in which it should be made applicable;

          (2) shall study the application to the House of provisions of 

        Federal law referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of clause 2 of 

        rule LII of the Rules of the House of Representatives that are 

        enacted after the date of adoption of this resolution;

          (3) may propose regulations with respect to such application 

        in accordance with subsection (c); and

          (4) may review the regulations in effect under subsection 

        (e)(1) and make such amendments as may be appropriate in 

        accordance with subsection (c).

  (c)(1)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of the completion of 
the study under subsection (a), the Board of Directors shall, in 
accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, propose 
regulations to implement the requirements of the laws referred to in 
clause 2(a) of rule LII of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 
The Board of Directors shall provide a period of at least 30 days for 
comment on the proposed regulations.

                  (B) In addition to publishing a general notice of 

                proposed rulemaking under section 553(b) of title 5, 

                United States Code, the Board of Directors shall 

                concurrently submit such notice for publication in the 

                Congressional Record.

                  (C) When proposing regulations under subparagraph (A) 

                to implement the requirements of a law referred to in 

                clause 2(a) of rule LII of the Rules of the House of 

                Representatives, the Board of Directors shall recommend 

                to the House of Representatives changes in or repeals of 

                existing law to accommodate the application of such law 

                to the House.

                  (D) The Board of Directors shall, in accordance with 

                such section 553, issue final regulations not later than 

                60 days after the end of the comment period on the 

                proposed regulations.

          (2)(A) Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

        completion of the study or a determination under subsection (b), 

        the Board of Directors shall, in accordance with section 553 of 

        title 5, United States Code, propose regulations that specify 

        which of the provisions of Federal law considered in such study 

        shall apply to the House of Representatives. The Board of 

        Directors shall provide a period of at least 30 days for comment 

        on the proposed regulations.

                  (B) In addition to publishing a general notice of 

                proposed rulemaking under section 553(b) of title 5, 


[[Page 844]]
                United States Code, the 

                Board of Directors shall concurrently submit such notice for 

                publication in the Congressional Record.

                  (C) When proposing regulations under subparagraph (A) 

                specifying which of the provisions of Federal law 

                referred to in clause 2(b) of rule LII of the Rules of 

                the House of Representatives shall apply to the House of 

                Representatives, the Board of Directors shall recommend 

                to the House of Representatives changes in or repeals of 

                existing law to accommodate the application of such law 

                to the House.

                  (D) The Board of Directors shall, in accordance with 

                such section 553, issue final regulations not later than 

                60 days after the end of the comment period on the 

                proposed regulations.

          (3) Regulations under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be 

        consistent with the regulations issued by an agency of the 

        executive branch of the Federal Government under the provision 

        of law made applicable to the House of Representatives, 

        including portions relating to remedies.

          (4) If a regulation is disapproved by a resolution considered 

        under subsection (e), not later than 60 days after the date of 

        the disapproval, the Board of Directors shall propose a new 

        regulation to replace the regulation disapproved. The action of 

        the Board of Directors under this paragraph shall be in 

        accordance with the applicable requirements of this subsection.

  (d) A final regulation issued under subsection (c) shall be 
transmitted to the House of Representatives for consideration under 
paragraph (e).

  (e)(1) Subject to subsection (f), a final regulation which is issued 
under subsection (c) shall take effect upon the expiration of 60 days 
from the date the final regulation is issued unless disapproved by the 
House of Representatives by resolution.

          (2) A resolution referred to in paragraph (1) may be 

        introduced in the House of Representatives within 5 legislative 

        days after the date on which the Board of Directors issues the 

        final regulation to which the resolution applies. The matter 

        after the resolving clause of the resolution shall be as 

        follows: ``That the House of Representatives disapproves the 

        issuance of final regulations of the Office of Compliance as 

        issued on ____________ (the blank space being appropriately 

        filled in).''.

          (3) A resolution referred to in paragraph (1) shall be 

        referred to the appropriate committee. If no resolution is 

        reported within 15 legislative days after the Board of Directors 

        issues final regulations under subsection (c)(1)(D) or 

        (c)(2)(D), the committee to which the resolution was referred 

        shall be discharged from further consideration of the first such 

        resolution introduced and the resolution shall be placed on the 

        appropriate calendar. Any meeting of a committee on a resolution 

        shall be open to the public. Within 5 legislative days after the 


[[Page 845]]
        resolution is reported or discharged, it shall be in order as 

        a privileged matter to move to proceed to its consideration and such 

        motion shall not be debatable. The resolution shall be debatable 

        for not to exceed 4 hours equally divided between proponents and 

        opponents and it shall not be subject to amendment.


  (f) Any meeting of the Board of Directors held in connection with a 
study under subsection (a) or (b) shall be open to the public. Any 
meeting of the Board of Directors in connection with a regulation under 
subsection (c) shall be open to the public.


                        SEC. 6. OTHER FUNCTIONS.

  (a) The executive director shall adopt rules governing the procedures 
of the Office, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors, 
including the procedures of hearing boards, which shall be submitted for 
publication in the Congressional Record. The rules may be amended in the 
same manner. The executive director may consult with the Chairman of the 
Administrative Conference of the United States and the General Counsel 
of the House of Representatives on the adoption of rules.

  (b) The executive director shall have authority to conduct such 
investigations as the executive director requires to implement sections 
7 through 10.

  (c) The Office shall--

          (1) carry out a program of education for Members of the House 

        of Representatives and other employing authorities of the House 

        of Representatives respecting the laws made applicable to them 

        and a program to inform individuals of their rights under laws 

        applicable to the House of Representatives and under sections 7 

        through 10,

          (2) in carrying out the program under paragraph (1), 

        distribute the telephone number and address of the Office, 

        procedures for action under sections 7 through 10, and any other 

        information the executive director deems appropriate for 

        distribution, distribute such information to Members and other 

        employing authorities of the House in a manner suitable for 

        posting, provide such information to new employees of the House, 

        distribute such information to the residences of employees of 

        the House, and conduct seminars and other activities designed to 

        educate employers and employees in such information,

          (3) compile and publish statistics on the use of the Office by 

        employees of the House, including the number and type of 

        contacts made with the Office, on the reason for such contacts, 

        on the number of employees who initiated proceedings with the 

        Office under sections 7 through 10 and the result of such 

        proceedings, and on the number of employees who filed a 

        complaint under section 10, the basis for the complaint, and the 

        action taken on the complaint, and

          (4) within 180 days of the initial appointment of the 

        executive director and in conjunction with the Clerk, develop a 

        system for the collection of demographic data respecting the 


[[Page 846]]
        composition of employ

        ees of the House, including race, sex, and wages, and a system for the 

        collection of information on employment practices, including 

        family leave and flexible work hours, in House offices.


  (d) Within one year of the date the system referred to in subsection 
(c)(4) is developed and annually thereafter, the Board of Directors 
shall submit to the House of Representatives a report on the information 
collected under such system. Each report after the first report shall 
contain a comparison and evaluation of data contained in the previous 
report.


       SEC. 7. PROCEDURE FOR CONSIDERATION OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS.

  The procedure for consideration of alleged violations of laws made 
applicable to the House of Representatives under this rule consists of 3 
steps as follows:

          (1) Step I, counseling, as set forth in section 8.

          (2) Step II, mediation, as set forth in section 9.

          (3) Step III, formal complaint and hearing by a hearing board, 


        as set forth in section 10.


                       SEC. 8. STEP I: COUNSELING.

  (a) An employee of the House alleging a violation of a law made 
applicable to the House of Representatives under rule LII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives may request counseling through the 
Office. The Office shall provide the employee with all relevant 
information with respect to the rights of the employee. A request for 
counseling shall be made not later than 180 days after the alleged 
violation forming the basis of the request for counseling occurred.


  (b) The period for counseling shall be 30 days unless the employee and 
the Office agree to reduce the period. The period shall begin on the 
date the request for counseling is received.


                       SEC. 9. STEP II: MEDIATION.

  (a) Not later than 15 days after the end of the counseling period 
under section 8, the employee who alleged a violation of a law made 
applicable to the House of Representatives under rule LII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives may file a request for mediation with 
the Office. Mediation--

          (1) may include the Office, the employee, the employing 

        authority, and individuals who are recommended by organizations 

        composed primarily of individuals experienced in adjudicating or 

        arbitrating personnel matters, and

          (2) shall be a process involving meetings with the parties 

        separately or jointly for the purpose of resolving the dispute 

        between the employee and the employing authority. 

[[Page 847]]

        


  (b) The mediation period shall be 30 days beginning on the date the 
request for mediation is received and may be extended for an additional 
30 days at the discretion of the Office. The Office shall notify the 
employee and the head of the employing authority when the mediation 
period has ended.


            SEC. 10. STEP III: FORMAL COMPLAINT AND HEARING.

  (a) Not later than 30 days after receipt by the employee of the House 
of notice from the Office of the end of the mediation period under 
section 9, the employee of the House may file a formal complaint with 
the Office against the head of the employing authority involved. No 
complaint may be filed unless the employee has made a timely request for 
counseling and has completed the procedures set forth in sections 8 and 
9.

  (b) A board of 3 independent hearing officers (hereinafter in this 
resolution referred to as a ``hearing board''), who are not Members, 
officers, or employees of the House, chosen by the executive director 
(one of whom shall be designated by the executive director as the 
presiding hearing officer) shall be assigned to consider each complaint 
filed under subsection (a). The executive director shall appoint hearing 
officers from candidates who are recommended by the Federal Mediation 
and Conciliation Service or the Administrative Conference of the United 
States. A hearing board shall act by majority vote.

  (c) Prior to a hearing under subsection (d), a hearing board may 
dismiss any claim that it finds to be frivolous.

  (d) A hearing shall be conducted--

          (1) in closed session on the record by a hearing board; and

          (2) no later than 30 days after filing of the complaint under 

        subsection (a), except that the Office may, for good cause, 

        extend up to an additional 60 days the time for conducting a 

        hearing.

  (e) Reasonable prehearing discovery may be permitted at the discretion 
of the hearing board.

  (f)(1) A hearing board may authorize subpoenas, which shall be issued 
by the presiding hearing officer on behalf of the hearing board under 
the seal of the House of Representatives for the attendance of witnesses 
at proceedings of the hearing board and for the production of 
correspondence, books, papers, documents, and other records. The 
attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence may be required 
from any place within the United States.

          (2) If a person refuses to obey a subpoena issued under 

        paragraph (1), the hearing board may report the refusal to the 

        Committee on Rules which may take any action it deems 

        appropriate, which shall be authorized by the chairman and 

        ranking minority member acting jointly. Such action may 

        include--

                  (A) a referral to the Committee on Standards of 

                Official Conduct if the refusal is by a current Member 


[[Page 848]]
                of the House of Rep

                resentatives or officer or employee of the House of Representatives, or

                  (B) a report to the House of Representatives of a 

                resolution to certify a contempt pursuant to sections 

                102 and 104 of the Joint Resolution of June 22, 1938 (2 

                U.S.C. 192, 194) if the failure is by someone other than 

                a current Member of the House of Representatives or 

                officer or employee of the House of Representatives.

          (3) The subpoenas of the hearing board shall be served in the 

        manner provided for subpoenas issued by a United States district 

        court under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for the United 

        States district courts.

          (4) All process of any court to which application is to be 

        made under paragraph (2) may be served in the judicial district 

        in which the person required to be served resides or may be 

        found.

          (5) The hearing board is an agency of the United States for 

        the purpose of part V of title 18, United States Code (relating 

        to immunity of witnesses).

  (g) As expeditiously as possible, but in no case more than 45 days 
after the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing board shall make a 
decision in the matter for which the hearing was held. The decision of 
the hearing board shall be transmitted by the Office to the employee of 
the House and the employing authority. The decision shall state the 
issues raised by the complaint, describe the evidence in the record, and 
contain a determination as to whether a violation of a law made 
applicable to the House of Representatives under this rule has occurred. 
Any decision of the hearing board shall contain a written statement of 
the reasons for the hearing board's decision. A final decision of the 
hearing board shall be made available to the public by the Office.

  (h) If the decision of the hearing board under subsection (g) is that 
a violation of a law made applicable to the House of Representatives 
under rule LII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, it shall 
order the remedies under such law as made applicable to the House of 
Representatives under that rule, except that no Member of the House of 
Representatives or any other head of an employing authority, or agent of 
such a Member shall be personally liable for the payment of 
compensation. The hearing board shall have no authority to award 
punitive damages.

  (i)(1) A House employee or an employing authority may request the 
Board of Directors to review a decision of the hearing board under 
subsection (g) (including a decision after a remand under paragraph 
(2)(A)). Such a request shall be made within 30 days of the date of the 
decision of the hearing board. Review by the Board of Directors shall be 
based on the record of the hearing board.

          (2) The Board of Directors shall issue a decision not later 

        than 60 days after the date of the request under paragraph (1). 

        The decision of the Board of Directors may-- 

[[Page 849]]

        

                  (A) remand to the hearing board the matter before the 

                Board of Directors for the purpose of supplementing the 

                record or for further consideration;

                  (B) reverse the decision of the hearing board and 

                enter a new decision and order in accordance with 

                subsection (h); or

                  (C) direct that the decision and order of the hearing 

                board be considered as the final decision.


  (j) There shall be established in the House of Representatives a fund 
from which compensation (including attorney's fees) may be paid in 
accordance with an order under subsection (h) or (i). From the outset of 
any proceeding in which compensation may be paid from a fund of the 
House of Representatives, the General Counsel of the House of 
Representatives may provide the respondent with representation.


                    SEC. 11. RESOLUTION OF COMPLAINT.


  If, after a formal complaint is filed under section 10, the employee 
and the employing authority resolve the issues involved, the employee 
may withdraw the complaint or the parties may enter into a written 
agreement, subject to the approval of the executive director.


                  SEC. 12. PROHIBITION OF INTIMIDATION.


  Any intimidation of, or reprisal against, any employee of the House by 
any Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives because 
of the exercise of a right under this resolution constitutes an unlawful 
employment practice, which may be remedied in the same manner under this 
resolution as is a violation of a law made applicable to the House of 
Representatives under rule LII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives.


                        SEC. 13. CONFIDENTIALITY.

  (a) All counseling shall be strictly confidential except that the 
Office and the employee may agree to notify the head of the employing 
authority of the allegations.

  (b) All mediation shall be strictly confidential.

  (c) Except as provided in subsection (d), the hearings and 
deliberations of the hearing board shall be confidential.


[[Page 850]]

  (d) At the discretion of the executive director, the executive 
director may provide to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct 
access to the records of the hearings and decisions of the hearing 
boards, including all written and oral testimony in the possession of 
the hearing boards, concerning a decision under section 10(g). The 
executive director shall not provide such access until the executive 
director has consulted with the individual filing the complaint at issue 
in the hearing, and until the hearing board has issued the decision. 


  (e) The executive director shall coordinate the proceedings with the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to ensure effectiveness, to 
avoid duplication, and to prevent penalizing cooperation by respondents 
in their respective proceedings.


         SEC. 14. POLITICAL AFFILIATION AND PLACE OF RESIDENCE.

  (a) It shall not be a violation of a law made applicable to the House 
of Representatives under rule LII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives to consider the--

          (1) party affiliation,

          (2) domicile, or

          (3) political compatibility with the employing authority,
of an employee of the House with respect to employment decisions.

  (b) For purposes of subsection (a), the term ``employee'' means--

          (1) an employee on the staff of the House of Representatives 

        leadership,

          (2) an employee on the staff of a committee or subcommittee,

          (3) an employee on the staff of a Member of the House of 

        Representatives,

          (4) an officer or employee of the House of Representatives 

        elected by the House of Representatives or appointed by a Member 

        of the House of Representatives, other than those described in 

        paragraphs (1) through (3), or

          (5) an applicant for a position that is to be occupied by an 


        individual described in paragraphs (1) through (4).


            SEC. 15. EXCLUSIVITY OF PROCEDURES AND REMEDIES.


  The procedures and remedies under rule LII of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives are exclusive except to the extent that the Rules of 
the House of Representatives and the rules of the Committee on Standards 
of Official Conduct provide for additional procedures and remedies.


                             SEC. 16. STUDY.

  (a) The Office shall conduct a study--

          (1) of the ways that access by the public to information held 

        by the House of Representatives may be improved and streamlined, 

        and of the application of section 552 of title 5, United States 

        Code to the House of Representatives; and

          (2) of the application of the requirement of section 552a of 

        title 5, United States Code, to the House of Representatives.

  (b) The study conducted under subsection (a) shall examine--

          (1) information that is currently made available under such 

        section 552 by Federal agencies and not by the House of 

        Representatives;

          (2) information held by the nonlegislative offices of the 

        House of Representatives, including-- 

[[Page 851]]

        

                  (A) the Director of Non-legislative and Financial 

                Services,

                  (B) the Clerk,

                  (C) the Inspector General,

                  (D) the Sergeant-at-Arms,

                  (E) the Doorkeeper,

                  (F) the United States Capitol Police, and

                  (G) the House Commission on Congressional Mailing 

                Standards;

          (3) financial expenditure information of the House of 

        Representatives; and

          (4) provisions for judicial review of denial of access to 

        information held by the House of Representatives.


  (c) The Office shall conduct the study prescribed by subsection (a) 
and report the results of the study to the House of Representatives not 
later than one year after the date of the initial appointment of the 
Board of Directors.


  Section 17 of House Resolution 578 of the 103d Congress (Oct. 7, 1994, 
p. ----) made rule LII effective November 1, 1994, provided for rule LII 
to supplant rule LI with the convening of the second session of the 
104th Congress, and provided certain transitional provisions as follows:


              SEC. 17. EFFECTIVE DATE AND TRANSITION RULES.

  (a) The amendments made by section 1 shall take effect on November 1, 
1994.

  (b) Effective at the beginning of the second session of the One 
Hundred Fourth Congress, rule LI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is repealed and rule LII of such Rules is redesignated 
as rule LI and all references to rule LII in sections 2 through 16 of 
this resolution are deemed to be references to rule LI of such Rules.

  (c) Notwithstanding subsection (b), until the beginning of the second 
session of the One Hundred Fourth Congress, the functions under rule LI 
of the Rules of the House of Representatives that are the responsibility 
of the Office of Fair Employment Practices shall continue to be the 
responsibility of that Office.

  (d) Any formal complaint filed under rule LI of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives before the close of the first session of the One 
Hundred Fourth Congress which has not been finally disposed of shall be 
transferred to the Office of Compliance for completion of all pending 
proceedings relating to that complaint. The Office of Compliance may 
make regulations to provide for the orderly transfer and disposition of 
such complaints.

  (e) In appointing staff under section 4(b), the executive director 
should give full consideration to employees of the Office of Fair 
Employment Practices.


[[Page 852]]
Congress of the Congressional Accountability Act, whether by enactment 
of the bill H.R. 4822, by incorporation of the text of that bill in 
another measure, or otherwise.
  (f) Sections 1 through 16 and subsections (a) through (e) of this 
section shall have no force or effect upon the enactment by the One 
Hundred Third 

  The Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 was signed into law on 
January 23, 1995 (P.L. 104-1; 109 Stat. 3 et seq.).