[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 105th Congress]
[105th Congress]
[House Document 104-272]
[Rules of the House of Representatives]
[Pages 780-785]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 

                               Rule XXXII.


                       of admission to the floor.


[[Page 781]]

subject to the provisions of clause 3 
of this rule; and clerks of committees when business 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, 


  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 782]]

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 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 

  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. ----; Dec. 19, 1995, p. ----; Jan. 22, 1996, p. ----
), other children (May 18, 1995, p. ----), or Senators exercising floor 
privileges (May 18, 1995, p. ----).


[[Page 783]]

quest of Members, by card or in writing, may be admitted.



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 re-



  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.



[[Page 784]]

mittee 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. ----). Intent to lobby will be assumed where the former Member is 
employed or retained as a lobbyist to influence legislative measures 
as described in (2) above (Aug. 1, 1996, p. ----). The Speaker has 
emphasized that the rule applies not only to the floor but also to 
``rooms leading thereto,'' and has construed the latter phrase to 
include the Speaker's Lobby and the cloakrooms (Speaker Gingrich, 
May 24, 1995, p. ----; Aug. 1, 1996, p. ----).
  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; June 7, 
1978, p. 16625; Speaker Foley, June 9, 1994, p. ----; Speaker Gingrich, 
May 24, 1995, p. ----; Speaker Gingrich, Aug. 1, 1996, 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 com-


  A former Member must observe the rules of proper decorum while on the 
floor; and the Chair may direct the Sergeant at Arms to assist the Chair 
in maintaining such decorum (Sept. 17, 1997, p. ----). In the 105th 
Congress the House adopted a resolution offered as a question of the 
privileges of the House alleging indecorous behavior of a former Member 
and instructing the Sergeant-at-Arms to ban the former Member from the 
floor, and rooms leading thereto, until the resolution of a contested 
election to which he was party (H. Res. 233, Sept. 18, 1997, p. ----).




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.



[[Page 785]]

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. 21519; Sept. 27, 1995, p. ----) and may 
not applaud during debate (June 14, 1995, p. ----).

  This 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 




Sec. 921c. Prohibition on distribution of campaign 
contributions.

  5. No  Member, officer, or employee of the House of 
Representatives, or any other person entitled to admission to the Hall 
of the House or rooms leading thereto by this rule, shall knowingly 
distribute any political campaign contribution in the Hall of the House 
or rooms leading thereto.





  Clause 5 was added in the 105th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 7, 1997, p. 
----).