[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 109th Congress]
[109th Congress]
[House Document 108-241]
[Front Matter]
[Pages i-xiii]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page i]]


108th Congress, 2d Session -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - House Document No. 108-241

____________________________________________________________________________

 

                              CONSTITUTION

                          JEFFERSON'S MANUAL 

                       AND RULES OF THE HOUSE OF

                             REPRESENTATIVES


                          OF THE UNITED STATES


                       ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS


                            JOHN V. SULLIVAN


 


                             PARLIAMENTARIAN


                     U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE


            97-500


________________________________________________________________________

 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing 
            WASHINGTON : 2005


                                 Office


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                          Washington, DC 20402
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                          HOUSE RESOLUTION 871

                            In the House of Representatives, U.S.,      

                                                     December 7, 2004.  

    Resolved, That a revised edition of the Rules and Manual of the 
House of Representatives for the One Hundred Ninth 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)


                              P R E F A C E

    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 Ninth Congress were adopted on January 
4, 2005, 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 Ninth 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 109th Congress included:

    (1) establishment of the Committee on Homeland Security as a 
standing committee (granting it legislative jurisdiction and oversight 
responsibilities and including conforming changes to the jurisdictional 
statements of the Committees on the Judiciary, Transportation and 
Infrastructure, and Ways and Means) (clauses 1 and 3 of rule X);

    (2) codification of the exercise of jurisdiction by the Committee on 
the Judicary over criminal law enforcement (clause 1(l) of rule X);

    (3) requirement of committees, when developing their oversight 
plans, to insure against the duplication of Federal programs (clause 
2(d) of rule X);


[[Page vi]]

each party (rather than a Member of the elected leadership of each 
party) (clause 5(a)(2) of rule X);
    (4) inclusion in composition of the Committee on the Budget a Member 
designated by the elected leadership of

    (5) exemption for the chairman of the Committee on Rules from the 
limit on consecutive terms for chairmen (clause 5(c) of rule X);

    (6) establishment of privileged motion in committee to recess 
subject to the call of the chair (within 24 hours) (clause 1(a) of rule 
XI);

    (7) authorization for committees to adopt a rule providing that the 
chairman be directed to offer a motion to go to conference whenever the 
chairman considers it appropriate (clause 2(a) of rule XI);

    (8) extension of the Speaker's authority to entertain motions to 
suspend the rules to include Wednesdays (clause 1 of rule XV);

    (9) repeal of the Corrections Calendar (clause 6 of rule XV);

    (10) authorization for remarks in debate to include references to 
the Senate or its Members, so long as avoiding personality (clause 1(b) 
of rule XVII);

    (11) establishment of procedures by which a provisional number of 
the House may operate in the event of catastrophic circumstances (clause 
5(c) of rule XX);

    (12) expansion of the Speaker's authority to postpone votes to 
include the question of agreeing to the motion to reconsider, the 
question of agreeing to the motion to lay on the table a motion to 
reconsider, and the question of agreeing to an amendment reported from 
the Committee of the Whole (clause 8(a) of rule XX);

    (13) authorization for Members to use campaign funds to defray 
certain official expenses (clause 1 of rule XXIV);

    (14) extension of prohibition against use of the frank for mass 
mailings to 90 days (from 60) before an election (clause 8 of rule 
XXIV);

    (15) expansion of the definition in the gift rule of ``necessary 
transportation, lodging, and related expenses'' to include travel 
expenses of the relative of a Member (rather than only spouse or child) 
(clause 5 of rule XXV); and


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isted at the close of the 108th Congress were reinstated (H. Res. 240, 
Apr. 27, 2005, p. ----).
    (16) amendments to various requirements that the Committee on 
Standards of Official Conduct adopt certain rules with respect to the 
duties of the chairman and ranking minority member regarding properly 
filed complaints, due process rights, and committee reporting 
requirements (clause 3(b), (k), (p), and (q) of rule XI); however, such 
amendments were redacted and the provisions as they ex

    In addition to the amendments cited above, clause 11(a)(1) of rule X 
was amended to change the size of the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence (H. Res. 51, 109th Cong., Jan. 26, 2005, p. ----) and 
clause 3 of rule XXI was amended to conform the rule to the current law 
authorizing funds for highway and transit programs and to codify a rule 
of construction (sec. 8004, Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), P.L. 109-59; 
2 U.S.C. 901 note).

    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.


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108th Congress and the 109th Congress to the date of publication and 
otherwise shared their considerable technical skills in the preparation 
of this edition. Their contributions to the revision of this Manual, 
including those of Muftiah McCartin in managing the process, and their 
unremitting dedication to parliamentary probity in the practices of the 
House are gratefully acknowledged.
    All the members of the Office of the Parliamentarian -- Charles 
Johnson, Tom Duncan, Muftiah McCartin, Tom Wickham, Ethan Lauer, Tara 
Sarathy, Carrie Wolf, Gay Topper, Brian Cooper, Deborah Khalili, and 
Bryan Feldblum -- worked diligently to annotate the decisions of the 
Chair and other parliamentary precedents of the

    To whatever extent the annotations in this work reflect consistency 
and predictability in the procedural practices of the House, a lion's 
share of credit is owed to Charles W. Johnson III and his predecessor, 
Wm. Holmes Brown. Together with their predecessor, Lewis Deschler, they 
have produced published precedents of the House that, along with the 
seminal sets of precedents published by Clarence Cannon and Asher Hinds, 
trace the parliamentary jurisprudence of the House to the 18th century.

    Charles W. Johnson III was appointed to the Office of the 
Parliamentarian of the House of Representatives in May 1964 and, over 
the ensuing 40 years, continuously served there under seven successive 
Speakers, the final 10 years as Parliamentarian of the House under the 
appointments of three successive Speakers. His mentor and dear friend, 
Wm. Holmes Brown, was appointed to the Office in 1958 and, over the 
ensuing 36 years, continuously served under six successive Speakers, the 
final 20 as Parliamentarian under the appointments of four successive 
Speakers. Together, Messrs. Brown and Johnson unfailingly endeavored to 
apply pertinent precedent to every parliamentary question, in 
recognition of the principle that fidelity to precedent promotes 
procedural fairness and legitimacy. They institutionalized in the Office 
of the Parliamentarian their demonstrated commitment to consistency in 
parliamentary analysis.

    Mr. Brown passed away on May 27, 2001. In publishing volume 16 of 
the Deschler-Brown Precedents in February, 2002, Mr. Johnson paid 
tribute to Mr. Brown's work in compilation of the precedents after his 
retirement. On the occasion of Mr. Johnson's own retirement at the end 
of May, 2004, the House acclaimed its profound gratitude to him for his 
unrivaled record of devoted service and steady, impartial guidance as 
its Parliamentarian. The same profound gratitude toward both of these 
Parliamentarians fills the hearts of those who prepared this edition of 
the House Rules and Manual.

                                                      John V. Sullivan  


[[Page ix]]



  October 7, 2005


                             C O N T E N T S


                               __________

                            THE CONSTITUTION

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

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

                   II.--The executive power.......................    65

                  III.--The judicial power........................    77

                   IV.--Obligations, duties, etc., of the States..    79

                    V.--Amendments to.............................    81

                   VI.--Law of the land, etc......................    83

                  VII.--Ratification of...........................    87

                        Amendments ratified.......................    90

                           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...................................   149

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

                   XI.--Committees................................   152

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

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

                  XIV.--Arrangement of business...................   170

                   XV.--Order.....................................   172

                  XVI.--Order respecting papers...................   173

                 XVII.--Order in debate...........................   173

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

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

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

                  XXI.--Resolutions...............................   201

                XXIII.--Bills, leave to bring in..................   203

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

                  XXV.--Bills, second reading.....................   204

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


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                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..............   354

                  III.--The Members, Delegates, and Resident 

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

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

                    V.--Broadcasting the House....................   385

                   VI.--Official Reporters and News Media 

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

                  VII.--Records of the House......................   399

                 VIII.--Response to Subpoenas.....................   403

                   IX.--Questions of Privilege....................   407

                    X.--Organization of Committees................   424

                   XI.--Procedures of Committees and Unfinished 

                        Business..................................   533

                  XII.--Receipt and Referral of Measures and 

                        Matters...................................   593

                 XIII.--Calendars and Committee Reports...........   607

                  XIV.--Order and Priority of Business............   641


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                   XV.--Business in Order on Special Days.........   652

                                                                    Page

             Rule XVI.--Motions and Amendments....................   672

                 XVII.--Decorum and Debate........................   723

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

                        state of the Union........................   751

                  XIX.--Motions Following the Amendment Stage.....   780

                   XX.--Voting and Quorum Calls...................   795

                  XXI.--Restrictions on Certain Bills.............   823

                 XXII.--House and Senate Relations................   869

                XXIII.--Code of Official Conduct..................   894

                 XXIV.--Limitations on Use of Official Funds......   901

                  XXV.--Limitations on Outside Earned Income and 

                        Acceptance of Gifts.......................   905

                 XXVI.--Financial Disclosure......................   928

                XXVII.--Statutory Limit on Public Debt............   951

               XXVIII.--General Provisions........................   955
Provisions of Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, as Amended by the 

    Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, Applicable to Both Houses
Congressional adjournment.........................................   959
Preservation of committee hearings................................   960

                       Joint and Select Committees
Economic Committee, Joint.........................................   961
Internal Revenue Taxation, Joint Committee on.....................   961
Library, Joint Committee of Congress on the.......................   962
Printing, Joint Committee on......................................   962
Inaugural Ceremonies, Joint Congressional Committee on............   962
Select committees.................................................   962


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                     House and Congressional Offices
House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards...............   965
House Office Building Commission..................................   965
Government Accountability Office..................................   965
Office of Compliance..............................................   965
Congressional Research Service....................................   966
Legislative Counsel...............................................   966
Congressional Budget Office.......................................   966
Law Revision Counsel..............................................   966
Technology Assessment.............................................   966
Office of the Parliamentarian.....................................   966
Office of Floor Assistants........................................   967
Office of Interparliamentary Affairs..............................   967
House Recording Studio............................................   967

                                                                    Page
United States Capitol Preservation Commission.....................   967
Office of General Counsel.........................................   968
Office of Emergency Planning, Preparedness, and Operations........   968
Office of Attending Physician.....................................   968
Office of Architect of the Capitol................................   968
Early organization of House.......................................   969

          Miscellaneous Provisions of Congressional Budget Laws
Congressional Budget Act of 1974..................................   975
Budget Enforcement Act of 1990....................................  1053

      Congressional Disapproval Provisions Contained in Public Laws
Resolutions privileged for consideration in House.................  1060



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                                  Index
Index.............................................................  1233

                        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 


Every Tuesday:

        may be considered on third Tuesday of each month.


              Motions to suspend rules. Rule XV, clause 1.


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

Every Wednesday:

                               Wednesdays



              Motions to suspend rules. Rule XV, clause 1.