    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 105th Congress]
    [105th Congress]
    [House Document 104-272]
    [Jeffersons Manual of ParliamentaryPractice]
    [Pages 146-155]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                       sec. xii.--committee of the whole.

    [[Page 147]]

    principles are digested in the form of resolutions, which are
    debated and amended till they get into a shape which meets the
    approbation of a majority. These being reported and confirmed by the
    House are then referred to one or more select committees, according as
    the subject divides itself into one or more bills. Scob., 36, 44.
    Propositions for any charge on the people are especially to be first
    made in a Committee of the Whole. 3 Hats., 127. The sense of the whole
    is better taken in committee, because in all committees everyone speaks
    as often as he pleases. Scob., 49. * * *

    Sec. 326. Parliamentary usage as to Committee of the
    Whole.

      The  speech, messages, and other matters of great concernment are
    usually referred to a Committee of the Whole House (6 Grey, 311), where
    general

      This provision is largely obsolete, the House of Representatives
    having by its rules and practice provided specifically for procedure in
    Committee of the Whole, and having also by its rules for the order of
    business left no privileged status for motions to go into Committee of
    the Whole on matters not already referred to that committee. The
    Committee of the Whole no longer originates resolutions or bills, but
    receives such as have been formulated by standing or select committees
    and referred to it; and when it reports, the House usually acts at once
    on the report without reference to select or other committees (IV,
    4705). The practice of referring annual messages of the President to
    Committee of the Whole, to be there considered and reported with
    recommendations for the reference of various portions to the proper
    standing or select committees (V, 6621, 6622), was discontinued in the
    64th Congress (VIII, 3350). The current practice is to refer the annual
    message to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union
    and order it printed (Jan. 14, 1969, p. 651). Executive communications
    submitted to implement the proposals contained in the State of the Union
    Message are referred by the Speaker to the various committees having
    jurisdiction over the subject matter therein.

    [[Page 148]]

    Sec. 327. Selection of Chairman of Committee of the
    Whole.

      * * *  They generally acquiesce in the chairman named by the Speaker;
    but, as well as all other committees, have a right to elect one, some
    member, by consent, putting the question, Scob., 36; 3 Grey, 301. * * *

      The House of Representatives (by clause 1 of rule XXIII) gives the
    authority to appoint the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to the
    Speaker (IV, 4704).

    Sec. 328. Form of going into Committee of the
    Whole.

      * * *  The form of going from the House into committee, is for the
    Speaker, on motion, to put the question that the House do now resolve
    itself into a Committee of the Whole to take into consideration such a
    matter, naming it. If determined in the affirmative, he leaves the chair
    and takes a seat elsewhere, as any other Member; and the person
    appointed chairman seats himself at the Clerk's table. Scob., 36. * * *

      This is the form in the House of Representatives, except that the
    Chairman of the Committee of the Whole seats himself in the Speaker's
    chair. In the 97th Congress, clause 1(b) was added to rule XXIII to
    authorize the Speaker, when no other business is pending, to declare the
    House resolved into Committee of the Whole to consider a measure at any
    time after the House has adopted a special order providing for
    consideration of such measure, unless the resolution specifies otherwise
    (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1983, p. 34).

    Sec. 329. Quorum in Committee of the Whole.

      * * *  Their
    quorum is the same as that of the House; and if a defect happens, the
    chairman, on a motion and question, rises, the Speaker resumes the chair
    and the chairman can make no other report than to inform the House of
    the cause of their dissolution. * * *

    [[Page 149]]

      Until 1890 a quorum of the Committees of the Whole was the same as the
    quorum of the House; but in 1890 the rule (clause 2 of rule XXIII) fixed
    it at one hundred (IV, 2966). Clause 2 of rule XXIII and clauses 2 and 5
    of rule XV provide the procedures that are followed in Committees of the
    Whole in case of failure of a quorum.

    Sec. 330. Rising of committee for reception of
    messages.

      * * *  If a message is announced during a committee, the Speaker
    takes the chair and receives it, because the committee can not. 2 Hats.,
    125, 126.

      In the House of Representatives, the committee rises informally to
    receive a message, or to enable the Speaker to sign and lay before the
    House an enrolled bill, at the direction of the Chairman without a
    formal motion from the floor (IV, 4786, footnote; Jan. 28, 1980, p. ----
    ; Feb. 8, 1995, p. ----); but at this rising the House may not have the
    message read or transact other business except by unanimous consent (IV,
    4787-4791).

    Sec. 331. Quarrels in Committee of the Whole, and duty of
    the Speaker in relation thereto.

      In  a Committee of the Whole, the tellers
    on a division differing as to numbers, great heats and confusion arose,
    and danger of a decision by the sword. The Speaker took the chair, the
    mace was forcibly laid on the table; whereupon the Members retiring to
    their places, the Speaker told the House ``he has taken the chair
    without an order to bring the House into order.'' Some excepted against
    it; but it was generally approved as the only expedient to suppress the
    disorder. And every Member was required, standing up in his place, to
    engage that he would proceed no further in consequence of what had
    happened in the grand committee, which was done. 3 Grey, 128.

    [[Page 150]]

      In the House of Representatives the Speaker has on several occasions
    taken the chair ``without an order to bring the House into order'' (II,
    1648-1653), but that being accomplished he may yield to the chairman
    that the committee may rise in due form (II, 1349). In one instance, a
    Member having defied and insulted the chairman, he left the chair, and,
    on the chair being taken by the Speaker, reported the facts to the House
    (II, 1653). In several cases Members who have quarrelled have made
    explanation and reconciled their difficulties (II, 1651), or have been
    compelled by the House to apologize ``for violating its privilege and
    offending its dignity'' (II, 1648, 1650).

    Sec. 332. Effect of breaking up of Committee of the Whole by
    disorder.

      A  Committee of the Whole being broken up in disorder, and the
    chair resumed by the Speaker without an order, the House was adjourned.
    The next day the committee was considered as thereby dissolved, and the
    subject again before the House; and it was decided in the House, without
    returning into committee. 3 Grey, 130.

      This provision is obsolete, since in the practice of the House of
    Representatives there are but two committees of the whole, which are in
    their nature standing committees, with calendars of business. They are
    never dissolved, and bills remain on their calendars until reported in
    the regular manner after consideration (IV, 4705). When the Speaker
    restores order he usually yields the chair to the chairman, thus
    permitting the committee later to rise in due form (II, 1349).

    [[Page 151]]

    chair, the chairman informs him that the committee have gone through the
    business referred to them, and that he is ready to make report when the
    House shall think proper to receive it. If the House have time to receive
    it, there is usually a cry of ``now, now,'' whereupon he makes the report;
    but if it be late, the cry is ``to-morrow, to-morrow,'' or ``Monday,''
    etc., or a motion is made to that effect, and a question put that it be
    received to-morrow, &c. Scob., 38.

    Sec. 333. Motions for previous question and to adjourn not
    used in Committee of the Whole.

      No  previous question can be put in a
    committee; nor can this committee adjourn as others may; but if their
    business is unfinished, they rise, on a question, the House is resumed,
    and the chairman reports that the Committee of the Whole have, according
    to order, had under their consideration such a matter, and have made
    progress therein; but not having had time to go through the same, have
    directed him to ask leave to sit again. Whereupon a question is put on
    their having leave, and on the time the House will again resolve itself
    into a committee. Scob., 38. But if they have gone through the
    matter <> referred to them, a member moves that the committee may
    rise, and the chairman report their proceedings to the House; which
    being resolved, the chairman rises, the Speaker resumes the

      In the practice of the House the previous question and motion to
    adjourn are not admitted in Committee of the Whole; but the rules
    (clauses 5 and 6 of rule XXIII) provide for closing both the general and
    five-minute debate. When the committee rises without concluding a matter
    the chairman reports that they ``have come to no resolution thereon'';
    but leave to sit again is not asked in the modern practice. The
    permission of the House is not asked when the chairman reports a matter
    concluded in committee. The report is made and received as a matter of
    course, and in thereupon before the House for action. When the House has
    vested control of general debate in certain Members, their control may
    not be abrogated during general debate by another Member moving to rise,
    unless they yield for that purpose (May 25, 1967, p. 14121). A Member
    yielded time in general debate may not yield to another for such motion
    (Feb. 22, 1950, p. 2178). The motion that the Committee of the Whole
    rise is privileged during debate under the five-minute rule, and may be
    offered during debate on a pending amendment, except where a Member has
    the floor (Aug. 13, 1986, p. 21215; Mar. 22, 1995, p. ----). The motion
    to rise may not include restrictions on the amendment process or
    limitations on future debate on amendments (June 6, 1990, p. 13234). For
    a further discussion of the motion to rise, see Sec. 864, infra.

    [[Page 152]]

    (IV, 4909). But a committee may not report a recommendation which, if
    carried into effect, would change a rule of the House (IV, 4907, 4908)
    unless a measure proposing amendments to House rules has initially been
    referred to the Committee of the Whole by the House. When an amendment is
    reported by the committee it may not be withdrawn, and a question as to
    its validity is not considered by the Speaker (IV, 4900). When a committee,
    directed by order of the House to consider certain bills, reported also
    certain other bills, the Speaker held that so much of the report as related
    to the latter bills could be received only by unanimous consent (IV, 4911).
    When a report is ruled out as in excess of the committee's power, the
    accompanying bill stands recommitted (IV, 4784, 4907). A report from a
    Committee of the Whole could not formerly be received in the absence of a
    quorum (VI, 666; see clause 6 of rule XV). The Committee of the <> Whole, like any other committee,
    may amend a proposition either by an ordinary amendment or by a substitute
    amendment (IV, 4899), but these amendments must be reported to the House
    for action. Amendments rejected by the committee are not reported (IV,
    4877). Ordinarily all amendments must be disposed of before the
    committee may report (IV, 4752-4758); but sometimes a special order
    requires a report at a specified time, in which case pending amendments
    are reported (IV, 3225-3228) or not (IV, 4910) as the terms of the order
    may direct. In the 98th Congress, clause 2 of rule XXI was amended to
    give precedence to the motion that the Committee rise and report a
    general appropriation bill at the conclusion of its reading for
    amendment and prior to or between consideration of amendments proposing
    certain limitations or retrenchments (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1983, p. 34).
    The 104th Congress further amended clause 2 to permit only the Majority
    Leader or a designee to offer that motion (sec. 215(a), H. Res. 6, Jan.
    4, 1995, p. ----). The 105th Congress elevated the Majority Leader's
    preferential motion in clause 2 to take precedence of any motion to
    amend at that stage (H. Res. 5, Jan. 7, 1997, p. ----). The practice of
    the House, based originally on a rule (IV, 4904), requires amendments to
    be reported from the Committee of the Whole in their perfected forms,
    and this holds good even in the case of an amendment in the nature of a
    substitute, which may have been amended freely (IV, 4900-4903). If a
    Committee of the Whole amends a paragraph and subsequently strikes out
    the paragraph as amended, the first amendment fails, and is not reported
    to the House or voted on (IV, 4898; V, 6169; VIII, 2421, 2426), and when
    the Committee of the Whole adopts two amendments that are subsequently
    deleted by an amendment striking out and inserting new text, only the
    latter amendment is reported to the House (June 20, 1967, pp. 16497-98).
    Normally, if the Committee of the Whole perfects a bill by adopting
    certain amendments and then adopts an amendment striking out all after
    section one of the bill and inserting a new text, only the bill, as
    amended by the motion to strike out and insert, is reported to the
    House; but when the bill is being considered under a special rule
    permitting a separate vote in the

    [[Page 153]]

    House on any of the amendments adopted
    in the Committee of the Whole to the bill or the committee substitute,
    all amendments adopted in the Committee are reported to the House
    regardless of their consistency (May 26, 1960, pp. 11302-04). Where a
    separate vote is demanded in this type of situation in the House only on
    an amendment striking out a section of a committee substitute, but not
    on perfecting amendments which have been previously adopted in Committee
    of the Whole to that section, rejection in the House of the motion to
    strike the section results in a vote on the committee substitute in its
    original form and not as perfected, since the perfecting amendments have
    been displaced in the Committee of the Whole and have not been revived
    on a separate vote in the House (Speaker O'Neill, Oct. 13, 1977, pp.
    33622-24). But where the Committee of the Whole reports a bill to the
    House with an adopted amendment in the nature of a substitute and the
    special order in question does not provide for separate House votes on
    amendments thereto, a separate vote may not be demanded on an amendment
    to such amendment, since only one amendment in its perfected form has
    been reported back to the House (Nov. 17, 1983, p. 33463).

    Sec. 335. Duties of Speaker and House as to reception of
    reports of Committee of the Whole.

      The  Speaker recognizes only reports
    from the Committee of the Whole made by the chairman thereof (V, 6987),
    and a matter alleged to have arisen therein but not reported may not be
    brought to the attention of the House (VIII, 2429, 2430) even on the
    claim that a question of privilege is involved (IV, 4912; V, 6987; VIII,
    2430). In one instance, however, the committee reported with a bill a
    resolution relating to an alleged breach of privilege (V, 6986). When a
    bill is reported the Speaker must assume that it has passed through all
    the stages necessary for the report (IV, 4916). When the committee
    reported not only what it had done but by whom it had been prevented
    from doing other things, the Speaker held that the House might not amend
    the report, which stood

    [[Page 154]]

    tee of the Whole prior to the Speaker's putting the question thereon, and
    unanimous consent is not required (May 28, 1987, p. 14030). When demand
    is made for separate votes in the House on several amendments adopted in
    the Committee of the Whole, the amendments are voted on in the House in
    the order in which they appear in the bill (July 24, 1968, pp. 23093-95;
    May 28, 1987, p. 14030; June 11, 1997, p. ----), except when amendments
    have been considered under a special rule prescribing the order for
    their consideration where the bill is considered as read, in which case
    they are voted on upon demand in the order in which considered in
    Committee of the Whole (Mar. 11, 1993, p. ----; Mar. 25, 1993, p. ----).

    Sec. 337. Committee of the Whole amendments in the
    House.

      All  amendments to a bill reported from the Committee of the Whole
    stand on an equal footing and must be voted on by the House (IV, 4871)
    in the order in which they are reported, although they may be
    inconsistent, one with another (IV, 4881, 4882), and are subject to
    amendment in the House unless the previous question is ordered (VIII,
    2419). Two amendments being reported as distinct were considered
    independently, although apparently one was a proviso attaching to the
    other (IV, 4905); and an entire and distinct amendment may not be
    divided, but must be voted on by the House as a whole (IV, 4883-4892;
    VIII, 2426). It is a frequent practice for the House by unanimous
    consent, to act at once on all the amendments to a bill reported from
    the Committee of the Whole, but it is the right of any Member to demand
    a separate vote on any amendment (IV, 4893, 4894; VIII, 2419). Where a
    special rule permits en bloc consideration of certain amendments in
    Committee of the Whole, those amendments if reported back to the House
    may also be considered en bloc for a separate vote in the House on
    demand of any Member (Speaker O'Neill, Sept. 7, 1978, p. 28425). A
    Member may demand a separate vote in the House on an amendment to a
    committee amendment in the nature of a substitute adopted in the
    Committee of the Whole where the bill is being considered under a
    special rule permitting separate votes in the House on any of the
    amendments adopted in the Committee of the Whole to the bill or
    committee amendment (Sept. 30, 1971, p. 34337), but where a special rule
    ``self-executes'' an amendment as a modification of an amendment in the
    nature of a substitute to be considered as an original bill, that
    modification is not separately voted on upon demand in the House
    (Speaker Foley, Feb. 3, 1993, p. ----). A Member may withdraw a demand
    for a separate vote in the House on an amendment reported from Commit-

      Depending on the will of the House as expressed on the question of
    ordering the previous question (IV, 4895; V, 5794; VIII, 2419), when a
    bill is reported with amendments, it is in order to submit additional
    amendments after disposition of the committee amendments (IV, 4872-
    4876). However, in modern practice the opportunity to submit amendments
    is normally foreclosed by the ordering of the previous question under a
    special rule. The fact that a proposition has been rejected by the
    Committee of the Whole does not prevent it from being offered as an
    amendment when the subject comes up in the House (IV, 4878-4880; VIII,
    2700). A substitute amendment may be offered to a bill reported from
    committee, and then the previous question may be ordered on the
    substitute, on all other amendments, and on the bill to final passage
    (V, 5472). An amendment in the nature of a substitute reported from
    committee is treated like any other amendment (V, 5341), and if the
    House rejects the substitute the original bill without amendment is
    before the House (VIII, 2426).

    [[Page 155]]

    following disposition of amendments to the text and pending third reading
    (May 25, 1993, p. ----).

    Sec. 338. Bills from Committee of the Whole in the
    House.

      Where  a series of bills are reported from Committee of the Whole, the
    House considers them in the order in which they are reported (IV, 4869,
    4870; VIII, 2417). A proposition reported for action has precedence over
    an independent resolution on the same subject offered by a Member from
    the floor (V, 6986), and where a bill and a resolution relating to an
    alleged breach of privilege were reported together the question was put
    first on the bill (V, 6986). A bill read in full and considered in
    Committee of the Whole (IV, 3409, 3410), or presumed to have been so
    read (IV, 4916), is not read in full again in the House when reported
    and acted on. The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole which reports a
    bill does not become entitled to prior recognition for debate in the
    House (II, 1453); but on an adverse report an opponent is recognized to
    make a motion for disposition of the bill (IV, 4897; VIII, 2430), or for
    debate (VII, 2629). The recommendation of the committee being before the
    House, the motion to carry out the recommendation is usually considered
    as pending without being offered from the floor (IV, 4896), but when a
    bill was reported with a recommendation that it lie on the table, a
    question was raised as to whether or not this motion, which prevents
    debate, should be considered as pending (IV, 4897). The House considers
    an amendment reported from the Committee of the Whole to the preamble of
    a Senate joint resolution

    Sec. 339. Discharge of the Committee of the Whole.

      A  motion
    to discharge the Committee of the Whole from the consideration of a
    matter committed to it is not privileged as against a demand for the
    regular order (IV, 4917). When the committee is discharged from
    consideration of a bill the House, in lieu of the report of the
    chairman, accepts the minutes of the Clerk as evidence of amendments
    agreed to (IV, 4922).
    <>   In other things the rules or proceedings are to be the same
    as in the House. Scob., 39.

      The House of Representatives provides by rule (clause 9 of rule XXIII)
    that the rules of proceeding in the House shall apply in Committee of
    the Whole so far as they may be applicable.