    [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 294-297]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 294]]

                              sec. li.--a session.

    Sec. 588. Sessions of Parliament.

      Parliament have  three
    modes of separation, to wit: by adjournment, by prorogation or
    dissolution by the King, or by the efflux of the term for which they
    were elected. Prorogation or dissolution constitutes there what is
    called a session; provided some act was passed. In this case all matters
    depending before them are discontinued, and at their next meeting are to
    be taken up de novo, if taken up at all. 1 Blackst., 186. Adjournment,
    which is by themselves, is no more than a continuance of the session
    from one day to another, of for a fortnight, a month, &c., ad libitum.
    All matters depending remain in statu quo, and when they meet again, be
    the term ever so distant, are resumed, without any fresh commencement,
    at the point at which they were left. 1 Lev., 165; Lex. Parl., c. 2; 1
    Ro. Rep., 29; 4 Inst., 7, 27, 28; Hutt., 61; 1 Mod., 252; Ruffh. Jac.,
    L. Dict. Parliament; 1 Blackst., 186. Their whole session is considered
    in law but as one day, and has relation to the first day thereof. Bro.
    Abr. Parliament, 86.

    [[Page 295]]

    constituting them commissioners for the particular purpose.

    Sec. 589. Sitting of committees in recesses
    and creation of commissions to sit after Congress adjourns.

      Committees may be  appointed
    to sit during a recess by adjournment, but not by prorogation. 5 Grey,
    374; 9 Grey, 350; 1 Chandler, 50. Neither House can continue any portion
    of itself in any parliamentary function beyond the end of the session
    without the consent of the other two branches. When done, it is by a bill

      The House of Representatives may empower a committee to sit during a
    recess which is within the constitutional term of the House (IV, 4541-
    4543), but not thereafter (IV, 4545). Therefore committees are created
    commissions by law if their functions are to extend beyond the term of
    the Congress (IV, 4545). Under clause 2(m)(1)(A) of rule XI, all
    committees are authorized to sit and act anywhere within the United
    States, and to issue subpoenas, whether the House is in session or has
    adjourned to a date certain or adjourned sine die, even after the second
    regular session of a Congress until the end of the constitutional term.
    By unanimous consent, all committees may be authorized to file
    investigative reports and annual activities reports following sine die
    adjournment (Oct. 17, 1986, p. 33099).

    [[Page 296]]

    So far we have fixed landmarks for determining sessions. * * *

    Sec. 590. Sessions and recesses of
    Congress.

      Congress separate  in two ways only, to wit, by adjournment, or dissolution by
    the efflux of their time. What, then, constitutes a session with them? A
    dissolution certainly closes one session, and the meeting of the new
    Congress begins another. The Constitution authorizes the President, ``on
    extraordinary occasions to convene both Houses, or either of them.'' I.
    3. If convened by the President's proclamation, this must begin a new
    session, and of course determine the preceding one to have been a
    session. So if it meets under the clause of the Constitution which says,
    ``the Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
    meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by
    law appoint a different day.'' I. 4. This must begin a new session; for
    even if the last adjournment was to this day the act of adjournment is
    merged in the higher authority of the Constitution, and the meeting will
    be under that, and not under their adjournment.

      The twentieth amendment to the Constitution, clause 2, now provides
    that the Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, at noon on
    the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
    Section 132 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, 60 Stat. 812,
    as amended by section 461 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970,
    84 Stat. 1140, provides that except in time of war the two Houses shall
    adjourn sine die not later than the last day of July (Sundays excepted)
    unless otherwise provided by the Congress. (For form of resolution used
    to continue in session past July 31, see H. Con. Res. 648, 92d Cong.,
    July 25, 1972, pp. 25145-46.) The same section contemplates an
    adjournment of Congress from the thirtieth day before to the second day
    following Labor Day in the first session of a Congress (each odd-
    numbered year) in lieu of a sine die adjournment. See Sec. 947, infra.
    Congress is adjourned for more than three days by a concurrent
    resolution (IV, 4031, footnote), and such adjournments to a day certain,
    within the session, do not terminate the session (V, 6676, 6677). In one
    instance the two Houses by concurrent resolution provided for
    adjournment to a day certain with the provision that if there be no
    quorum present on that day the session should terminate (V, 6686). Prior
    to the adoption of the twentieth amendment it had become established
    practice that a meeting of Congress once within the year did not make
    uncertain the constitutional mandate to meet on the first Monday of
    December (I, 10, 11). And where a special session continued until the
    time prescribed by the Constitution for the annual meeting without an
    appreciable intervening time (V, 6690, 6692), a question arose as to
    whether there had actually been a recess of Congress (V, 6687, 6693),
    with the conclusion that a recess was a real and not an imaginary time
    (V, 6687).

    Sec. 591. Manner of closing a session by action
    of the two Houses.

      * * * In other  cases it is declared by the joint vote authorizing
    the President of the Senate and the Speaker to close the session on a
    fixed day, which is usually in the following form: ``Resolved by the
    Senate and House of Representatives, that the President of the Senate
    and the Speaker of the House of Representatives be authorized to close
    the present session by adjourning their respective Houses on the ----
    day of ----.''

    [[Page 297]]

    authority granted each House by simple
    resolutions consenting to such adjournment sine die at any time prior to
    a specified date (Nov. 19, 1919, p. 8810). Pursuant to H. Con. Res. 266,
    83d Congress, the House adjourned sine die on August 20, 1954, with
    consent of the House to adjournment sine die of the Senate at any time
    prior to December 25, 1954 (Aug. 20, 1954, p. 15554). In the 93d
    Congress, the two Houses adopted concurrent resolutions adjourning their
    sessions sine die or until reconvened by the Joint House-Senate
    leadership (see H. Con. Res. 412, Dec. 22, 1973, p. 43327; H. Con Res.
    697, Dec. 20, 1974, p. 41815). In the 97th Congress, 2d Session, a
    concurrent resolution provided for the adjournment sine die of the House
    on December 20 or December 21 pursuant to a motion made by the Majority
    Leader or his designee, and provided the consent of the House to the
    adjournment sine die of the Senate at any time prior to January 3, 1983
    as determined by the Senate, and also provided the consent of the House
    for adjournments and recesses or the Senate for more than three days as
    determined by the Senate during such period (H. Con. Res. 438, Dec. 20,
    1982, p. 32951). Under the current practice, first session sine die
    adjournment concurrent resolutions contain House-Senate leadership
    recall authority, while second session resolutions usually do not (for
    the unusual cases, see H. Con. Res. 697, 93d Cong., Dec. 20, 1974, p.
    41815; H. Con. Res. 399, 101st Cong., Oct. 27, 1990, p. 36850), and all
    such resolutions permit the motion to adjourn sine die only by the
    Majority Leaders or their designees (Dec. 19, 1985, p. 38358; Oct. 17,
    1986, p. 33096).

      In the modern practice the resolving clause of the concurrent
    resolution is in form different from that given by Jefferson. At the
    close of the first session of the 66th Congress, the two Houses
    adjourned sine die under

    Sec. 592. Parliamentary law as to business at the
    termination of a session.

      When it was  said above that all matters depending before
    Parliament were discontinued by the determination of the session, it was
    not meant for judiciary cases depending before the House of Lords, such
    as impeachments, appeals, and writs of error. These stand continued, of
    course, to the next session. Raym., 120, 381; Ruffh. Fac., L. D.,
    Parliament.

      Impeachments stand, in like manner, continued before the Senate of the
    United States.

      In the House of Representatives rule XXVI and the practice thereunder
    show that the two Houses of Congress have departed from the law of
    Parliament.