[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 108th Congress]
[108th Congress]
[House Document 107-284]
[Front Matter]
[Pages 1-18]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]



?

[[Page i]]

 107th Congress, 2d Session -  -  -  -  -  House Document No. 107-284

________________________________________________________________________
 

                              CONSTITUTION


                           JEFFERSON'S MANUAL


                                   AND


                          RULES OF THE HOUSE OF


                             REPRESENTATIVES


                          OF THE UNITED STATES


                      ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS


                           CHARLES W. JOHNSON


 [GRAPHIC][TIFF]CONGRESS.#13


                             PARLIAMENTARIAN


 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing 
                     U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
82-900                       WASHINGTON : 2003
________________________________________________________________________


                                 Office



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                          Washington, DC 20402



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                          HOUSE RESOLUTION 614

                            In the House of Representatives, U.S.,      

                                      November 14, 2002.  

    Resolved, That a revised edition of the Rules and Manual of the 
House of Representatives for the One Hundred Eighth 
Congress be printed as a House document, and that three thousand 
additional copies shall be printed and bound for the use of the House of 
Representatives, of which nine hundred copies shall be bound in leather 
with thumb index and delivered as may be directed by the Parliamentarian 
of the House.

    Attest:

                                                    Jeff Trandahl,      


                                                                Clerk.  



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                                  (III)


                                 PREFACE

    The House Rules and Manual contains the fundamental source material 
for parliamentary procedure used in the House of Representatives: the 
Constitution of the United States; applicable provisions of Jefferson's 
Manual; Rules of the House (as of the date of this preface); provisions 
of law and resolutions having the force of Rules of the House; and 
pertinent decisions of the Speakers and other presiding officers of the 
House and Committee of the Whole interpreting the rules and other 
procedural authority used in the House of Representatives.

    The rules for the One Hundred Eighth Congress were 
adopted on January 7, 2003, when the House agreed to House 
Resolution 5. In addition to a series of changes to various standing 
rules, House Resolution 5 included separate free-standing orders 
constituting procedures to be followed in the One Hundred 
Eighth Congress. Explanations of the changes to the 
standing rules appear in the annotations following each rule in the text 
of this Manual.

    In the One Hundred Sixth Congress, the House adopted a 
recodification of the Rules of the House. For an explanation of the 
recodified format, see the Preface and other introductory matter for the 
House Rules and Manual for the One Hundred Sixth Congress (H. Doc. 105-
358).

    The substantive changes in the standing rules made by House 
Resolution 5 of the 108th Congress included: 

    (1) directive to the Speaker to submit to the Clerk a list of 
Members in the order in which each shall act as Speaker pro tempore in 
the case of a vacancy in the Office of Speaker until the election of a 
Speaker or a Speaker pro tempore (clause 8 of rule I);

    (2) elimination of the limit on number of terms a person may serve 
as Speaker (rule I);

    (3) authorization for the Speaker to declare an emergency recess 
subject to the call of the Chair when notified of an imminent threat to 
the safety of the House (clause 12 of rule I);


[[Page vi]]

convening or to reconvene before the time previously appointed solely to 
declare the House in recess (each within the constitutional three-day 
limit) (clause 12 of rule I);
    (4) authorization for the Speaker, during any recess or adjournment 
of not more than three days and in consultation with the Minority 
Leader, to postpone the time for re

    (5) extension of the privileges of the floor to staff of the 
respective party leaderships when so assigned with the approval of the 
Speaker (clause 2 of rule IV);

    (6) inclusion of a member of the Committee on Rules in the 
composition of the Committee on the Budget (clause 5(a) of rule X);

    (7) elimination of the limit on the number of terms a chairman or 
ranking minority member may serve on the Committee on the Budget 
(subjecting a chairman of the committee only to the term limit 
applicable to all standing committees described in clause 5(c)(2) of 
rule X) (clause 5(a) of rule X);

    (8) elimination of the limit on the number of terms a chairman or 
ranking minority member of the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence may serve on that committee (clause 11(a) of rule X);

    (9) clarification that, although the professional staff of the 
Committee on Appropriations are subject to the same rules regarding 
their duties as the professional staff of all other committees, the 
associate or shared staff of that committee are not subject to the 
review of the Committee on House Administration in connection with the 
reporting of committee expense resolutions (clause 9(b) of rule X);

    (10) authorization for committees to adopt a rule permitting the 
chairman of a committee or subcommittee to postpone a recorded vote on 
the question of approving a measure or matter or on adopting an 
amendment and to resume proceedings on a postponed question at any time 
after reasonable notice, provided that such rule permits, when 
proceedings resume on a postponed question and notwithstanding any 
intervening order for the previous question, further debate or amendment 
to the same extent as when the question was postponed (clause 2(h) of 
rule XI);


[[Page vii]]

    (11) codification of free-standing directives to the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct originally established and twice 
reaffirmed by simple resolution (H. Res. 168, 105th Cong., Sept. 18, 
1997, p. ----, reaffirmed for the 106th Congress by sec. 2(c), H. Res. 
5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. ----, and reaffirmed for the 107th Congress with an 
exception by sec. 3(a), H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2001, p. ----) (clause 3 of 
rule XI);

    (12) authority for the Speaker, when referring a matter to 
committee, to designate more than one committee as primary under 
extraordinary circumstances (clause 2(c) of rule XII);

    (13) replacement of provision authorizing a report of the Committee 
on Ways and Means on major tax legislation to include a dynamic estimate 
of the effect of such legislation on Federal revenues with a requirement 
that a report of that committee proposing to amend the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 include a macroeconomic impact analysis or a statement why 
such analysis is not calculable (clause 3(h) of rule XIII);

    (14) relaxation of prohibition against any personal electronic 
office equipment on the floor of the House, confining the prohibition to 
wireless telephones and personal computers (clause 5 of rule XVII);

    (15) codification of long-standing House practice that the death, 
resignation, explusion, disqualification, or removal of a Member results 
in an adjustment of the whole number of the House, which the Speaker 
shall announce to the House and which shall not be subject to appeal 
(clause 5 of rule XX);

    (16) clarification that a motion to adjourn retains its normal 
privilege and is in order during a call of the House under clause 6 of 
rule XX (clause 6 of rule XX);

    (17) expansion of the Speaker's authority to reduce the minimum time 
for electronic voting following a fifteen-minute vote to include all 
succeeding votes provided no other business intervenes and notice of 
possible five-minute voting is given (clause 9 of rule XX);

    (18) replacement of the standard for determining whether an 
amendment proposing a limitation on funds in a general appropriation 
bill violates clause 5(a) of rule XXI from a determination that the 
provision inevitability and with certainty impacts revenue collections 
or tax statuses or liabilities to a determination of a textual 
relationship between the amendment and the administration of a tax or 
tariff (clause 5(a) of rule XXI);

    (19) extension of time before further motions to instruct conferees 
may be offered from 20 calendar days to 20 calendar days but not less 
than 10 legislative days (clause 7 of rule XXII);


[[Page viii]]

sional services involving a fiduciary relationship (clause 2 of rule 
XXV);
    (20) exemption for the practice of medicine from the prohibition 
against receiving compensation for affiliating with, or being employed 
by, an entity that provides profes

    (21) particularization of the application of the gift rule to 
perishable food, providing that the value of perishable food sent to an 
office shall be allocated among the individual recipients and not solely 
to the Member (clause 5 of rule XXV);

    (22) relaxation of the prohibition against accepting reimbursement 
for transportation and lodging expenses in connection with a charity 
event to permit such reimbursement where the net proceeds of the event 
go to a qualified charity, the expenses are paid by the charity, and the 
invitation of free attendance is issued by the charity (clause 5 of rule 
XXV); and

    (23) restoration of automatic House passage of joint resolution 
increasing the statutory limit on the public debt when the two Houses 
agree to a concurrent resolution on the budget that requires such an 
increase (rule XXVII).

    Section 4 of House Resolution 5 also established a Select Committee 
on Homeland Security with oversight and legislative jurisdiction over 
matters relating to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which reorganized 
the Federal Government to create a new Department of Homeland Security 
(see Sec. 1112a, infra). The recently published second edition of House 
Practice took into account the creation of the new select committee but 
was finalized before the Committee on Appropriations reorganized its 
subcommittees to reflect the new department (see House Practice, 
ï¿½MDBU/ch. 4, Sec. 6). The Committee on Appropriations created a new 
subcommittee on Homeland Security and combined the subcommittees on 
Transportation and Treasury, Postal Service and General Government. The 
reorganization of subcommittees is in compliance with clause 5(d)(2) of 
rule X, which prohibits the Committee on Appropriation from having more 
than 13 subcommittees (see Sec. 762, infra). 

    Deputy Parliamentarians John Sullivan and Tom Duncan, and Assistant 
Parliamentarians Muftiah McCartin, Tom Wickham, and Ethan Lauer worked 
diligently to annotate the decisions of the Chair and 
other parliamentary precedents of the 107th and 108th 
Congress to date of publication. Gay Topper, Deborah Khalili, and Brian 
Cooper contributed their clerical skills to the preparation of this 
edition. All of their contributions, especially those of Muftiah 
McCartin in the preparation of this Manual, are gratefully acknowledged.


[[Page ix]]

    Citations in this edition refer to:

    (1) Hinds' Precedents of the House of Representatives of the United 
States (volumes I through V) and Cannon's Precedents of the House of 
Representatives of the United States (volumes VI through VIII), by 
volume and section (e.g., V, 5763; VIII, 2852);

    (2) Deschler's Precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives 
(volumes 1 through 9) and the Deschler-Brown Precedents of the U.S. 
House of Representatives (volumes 10 through 16), by 
volume, chapter, and section (e.g., Deschler, ch. 26, Sec. 79.7; 
Deschler-Brown, ch. 28, Sec. 4.26);

    (3) the Congressional Record, by date and page (e.g., Jan. 29, 1986, 
p. 684);

    (4) House Practice (2003), by chapter and 
section (e.g., House Practice, ch. 1, Sec. 2);

    (5) Deschler-Brown Procedure in the U.S. House of Representatives 
(4th edition and 1987 supplement), by chapter and section (e.g., 
Procedure, ch. 5, Sec. 8.1);

    (6) the United States Code, by title and section (e.g., 2 U.S.C. 
287); and

    (7) the United States Reports, by volume and page (e.g., 395 U.S. 
486).

    Readers are invited to refer to the prefaces of Hinds', Cannon's, 
and Deschler's Precedents (Volumes I, VI, and 1, respectively) for 
comprehensive overviews by those editors of the procedural history of 
the House of Representatives from 1789 to 1976.



[[Page xi]]



                                                    Charles W. Johnson  
 July 25, 2003


                                CONTENTS


                               __________

                            THE CONSTITUTION

                                                                    Page
Preamble..........................................................     3

            Article I.--The legislative power.....................     4

                   II.--The executive power.......................    64

                  III.--The judicial power........................    76

                   IV.--Obligations, duties, etc., of the States..    78

                    V.--Amendments to.............................    80

                   VI.--Law of the land, etc......................    82

                  VII.--Ratification of...........................    86

                        Amendments ratified.......................    89

                           JEFFERSON'S MANUAL

            Section I.--Importance of adhering to rules...........   125

                  III.--Privilege.................................   128

                   VI.--Quorum....................................   147

                  VII.--Call of the House.........................   148

                   IX.--Speaker...................................   148

                    X.--Address...................................   151

                   XI.--Committees................................   151

                  XII.--Committee of the Whole....................   155

                 XIII.--Examination of witnesses..................   164

                  XIV.--Arrangement of business...................   169

                   XV.--Order.....................................   171

                  XVI.--Order respecting papers...................   172

                 XVII.--Order in debate...........................   172

                XVIII.--Orders of the House.......................   194

                  XIX.--Petition..................................   198

                   XX.--Motions...................................   199

                  XXI.--Resolutions...............................   200

                XXIII.--Bills, leave to bring in..................   202

                 XXIV.--Bills, first reading......................   203

                  XXV.--Bills, second reading.....................   203

                 XXVI.--Bills, commitment.........................   204


[[Page xii]]

                XXVII.--Report of committee.......................   215

                                                                    Page

       Section XXVIII.--Bill, recommitment........................   216

                 XXIX.--Bills, reports taken up...................   217

                  XXX.--Quasi-committee...........................   219

                 XXXI.--Bill, second reading in the House.........   223

                XXXII.--Reading papers............................   225

               XXXIII.--Privileged questions......................   227

                XXXIV.--The previous question.....................   240

                 XXXV.--Amendments................................   242

                XXXVI.--Division of the question..................   251

               XXXVII.--Coexisting questions......................   254

              XXXVIII.--Equivalent questions......................   255

                XXXIX.--The question..............................   258

                   XL.--Bills, third reading......................   258

                  XLI.--Division of the House.....................   262

                 XLII.--Titles....................................   268

                XLIII.--Reconsideration...........................   268

                 XLIV.--Bills sent to the other House.............   271

                  XLV.--Amendments between the Houses.............   272

                 XLVI.--Conferences...............................   282

                XLVII.--Messages..................................   295

               XLVIII.--Assent....................................   299

                 XLIX.--Journals..................................   302

                    L.--Adjournment...............................   304

                   LI.--A session.................................   306

                  LII.--Treaties..................................   309

                 LIII.--Impeachment...............................   313

                           RULES OF THE HOUSE

               Rule I.--The Speaker...............................   333

                   II.--Other Officers and Officials..............   353

                  III.--The Members, Delegates, and Resident 

                        Commissioner of Puerto Rico...............   373

                   IV.--The Hall of the House.....................   377

                    V.--Broadcasting the House....................   384

                   VI.--Official Reporters and News Media 

                        Galleries.................................   387

                  VII.--Records of the House......................   398

                 VIII.--Response to Subpoenas.....................   402

                   IX.--Questions of Privilege....................   406

                    X.--Organization of Committees................   423

                   XI.--Procedures of Committees and Unfinished 

                        Business..................................   529

                  XII.--Receipt and Referral of Measures and 

                        Matters...................................   588

                 XIII.--Calendars and Committee Reports...........   602

                  XIV.--Order and Priority of Business............   636


[[Page xiii]]

                   XV.--Business in Order on Special Days.........   647

                                                                    Page

             Rule XVI.--Motions and Amendments....................   667

                 XVII.--Decorum and Debate........................   718

                XVIII.--The Committee of the Whole House on the 

                        state of the Union........................   746

                  XIX.--Motions Following the Amendment Stage.....   773

                   XX.--Voting and Quorum Calls...................   789

                  XXI.--Restrictions on Certain Bills.............   813

                 XXII.--House and Senate Relations................   857

                XXIII.--Code of Official Conduct..................   882

                 XXIV.--Limitations on Use of Official Funds......   889

                  XXV.--Limitations on Outside Earned Income and 

                        Acceptance of Gifts.......................   893

                 XXVI.--Financial Disclosure......................   915

                XXVII.--Statutory Limit on Public 

                        Debt......................................   939

               XXVIII.--General Provisions........................   942
Provisions of Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, as Amended by the 

    Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, Applicable to Both Houses
Congressional adjournment.........................................   947
Preservation of committee hearings................................   948

                       Joint and Select Committees
Economic Committee, Joint.........................................   949
Internal Revenue Taxation, Joint Committee on.....................   949
Library, Joint Committee of Congress on the.......................   950
Printing, Joint Committee on......................................   950
Inaugural Ceremonies, Joint Congressional Committee on............   950
Select committees.................................................   951


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                              House Offices
House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards...............   953
House Office Building Commission..................................   953
General Accounting Office.........................................   953
Office of Compliance..............................................   953
Congressional Research Service....................................   954
Legislative Counsel...............................................   954
Congressional Budget Office.......................................   954
Law Revision Counsel..............................................   954
Technology Assessment.............................................   954
Office of the Parliamentarian.....................................   954
Office of Floor Assistants........................................   955
Corrections Calendar Office.......................................   955
House Recording Studio............................................   955

                                                                    Page
United States Capitol Preservation Commission.....................   955
Office of General Counsel.........................................   955 
Office of Emergency Planning, Preparedness, and Operations........   956
Early organization of House.......................................   957

          Miscellaneous Provisions of Congressional Budget Laws
Congressional Budget Act of 1974..................................   963
Budget Enforcement Act of 1990....................................  1039

      Congressional Disapproval Provisions Contained in Public Laws
Resolutions privileged for consideration in House.................  1045



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                                  Index
Index.............................................................  1203

                       MAJOR RULE CITATION CHANGES
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   OLD RULE through        NEW RULE

                                     105th Cong.     -------------------

          DESCRIPTION           ---------------------

                                    Rule     Clause     Rule     Clause
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Postponed votes................          I      5(b)        XX         8
Tie vote lost..................          I         6        XX      1(c)
Lame duck travel authority.....          I         8      XXIV        10
Broadcasting House proceedings.          I         9         V  ........
Office of the Historian........          I        10        II         7
Office of the General Counsel..          I        11        II         8
Clerk..........................        III  ........        II         2
Sergeant-at-Arms...............         IV  ........        II         3
Chief Administrative Officer...          V  ........        II         4
Office of the Inspector General         VI  ........        II         6
Chaplain.......................        VII  ........        II         5
Duties of Members..............       VIII  ........       III       1-2
Committee on Standards of                X      4(e)        XI         3
 Official Conduct..............
Referral.......................          X         5       XII         2
Speaker's appointment of select          X      6(f)         I        11
 and conference committees.....
Committee membership contingent          X      6(g)         X        10
 on party membership...........
Committee reporting procedures.         XI  2(l)(1),      XIII         2

                                                 (2)
Content of reports.............         XI  2(l)(3)-      XIII         3


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Dilatory motions on suspensions        XVI         8        XV         1
Dilatory motions...............        XVI        10       XVI         1
Previous question..............       XVII  ........       XIX         1
Motion to recommit.............       XVII         1       XIX         2
Reconsideration................      XVIII  ........       XIX         3
Amendments.....................        XIX  ........       XVI         6
Senate amendments..............         XX  ........      XXII       1-6
Reading of bills...............        XXI         1       XVI         8
Content of reports on                  XXI         3      XIII      3(f)
 appropriation bills...........
Private claims.................        XXI         4       XII      2(d)
Appropriations in legislation..        XXI      5(a)       XXI         4
Reappropriations...............        XXI         6       XXI   2(a)(2)
Printing of appropriations             XXI         7      XIII      4(c)
 hearings......................
Reserving points of order on           XXI         8       XXI         1
 appropriation bills...........
Transportation obligation              XXI         9       XXI         3
 limitations...................
Cosponsorship..................       XXII         4       XII         7
Resolutions of inquiry.........       XXII         5      XIII         7
Committee of the Whole House...      XXIII  ........     XVIII  ........
Order of business..............       XXIV  ........       XIV  ........
Unfinished business............       XXIV         3       XIV         3
Private Calendar...............       XXIV         6        XV         5
Calendar Wednesday.............       XXIV         7        XV         7
District business..............       XXIV         8        XV         4
Priority of business...........        XXV  ........       XIV         6
                                                 (5)
Availability of reports........         XI   2(l)(6)      XIII         4
Committee travel...............         XI      2(n)         X         8
Committee broadcast rule.......         XI         3        XI         4
Privileged reports.............         XI         4      XIII         5
Reports of Rules Committee.....         XI         4      XIII         6
Expense resolutions............         XI         5         X       6-7
Committee staff................         XI         6         X         9
Resident Commissioner/Delegates        XII  ........       III         3
Corrections Calendar...........       XIII         4        XV         6
Decorum and debate.............        XIV  ........      XVII  ........
Recognition....................        XIV         2      XVII         2
Voting and quorum calls........         XV  ........        XX  ........


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Withdrawal of papers...........     XXXVII  ........       VII         7
Ballot votes...................    XXXVIII  ........        XX        11
Messages.......................      XXXIX  ........       XII         1
Executive communications.......         XL  ........       XII         8
Claims against the Government..        XLI  ........       XXV         6
General provisions.............       XLII  ........        XX         1
                                                                  
Unfinished business in                XXVI  ........        XI         6
 committee.....................
Suspension of the rules........      XXVII       1-2        XV         1
Discharge motions..............      XXVII         3        XV         2
Conference reports.............     XXVIII  ........      XXII      7-12
Secret sessions................       XXIX  ........      XVII         9
Exhibits.......................        XXX  ........      XVII         6
Hall of the House..............       XXXI  ........        IV         1
Admission to the Floor.........      XXXII  ........        IV       2-5
Admission to the galleries.....     XXXIII  ........        IV         6
Campaign contributions on Floor      XXXII         5        IV         7
Official Reporters and the           XXXIV  ........        VI  ........
 media.........................
Pay of witnesses...............       XXXV  ........        XI         5
Records of the House...........      XXXVI  ........       VII  ........

                                                          VIII




[[Page xviii]]

                                                            NM
Code of Official Conduct.......      XLIII  ........     XXIII  ........
Financial disclosure...........       XLIV  ........      XXVI  ........
Unofficial office accounts.....        XLV  ........      XXIV       1-3
Limitation on use of frank.....       XLVI  ........      XXIV       4-9
Outside earned income..........      XLVII  ........       XXV       1-3
Intelligence Committee.........     XLVIII  ........         X        11
Statutory Limit on Public Debt.       XLIX  ........     XXVII    
Response to subpoenas..........          L  ........      VIII  ........
Gift rule......................         LI  ........       XXV         5
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        GENERAL ORDER OF BUSINESS


                                Rule XIV


              First. Prayer by Chaplain.


              Second. Approval of Journal.


              Third. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.


              Fourth. Correction of reference of public bills.


              Fifth. Disposal of business on Speaker's table.


              Sixth. Unfinished business.



              Seventh. The morning hour for the consideration of bills. 


              Eighth. Motions to go into Committee of the Whole. 


              Ninth. Orders of the day.

                        SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS


Second and fourth Mondays:

                                 Mondays


              Motions to discharge committees. Rule XV, clause 2.


Every Monday:

              District of Columbia Business. Rule XV, clause 4.


              Motions to suspend rules. Rule XV, clause 1.


First and third Tuesdays:

                                Tuesdays

  Private Calendar. Rule XV, clause 5. Individual private bills 

        considered on first Tuesday of each month, omnibus private bills 


Second and fourth Tuesdays:

        may be considered on third Tuesday of each month.


Every Tuesday:

              Corrections Calendar. Rule XV, clause 6.


              Motions to suspend rules. Rule XV, clause 1.


Call of Committees under Calendar Wednesday. Rule XV, clause 7.
                               Wednesdays