    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 112th Congress]
    [112nd Congress]
    [House Document 111-157]
    [Jeffersons Manual of ParliamentaryPractice]
    [Pages 150-151]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                           sec. vii--call of the house

    Sec. 311. Parliamentary rules for call of the House.

      On  the
    call of the House, each person rises up as he is called, and answereth;
    the absentees are then only noted, but no excuse to be made till the
    House be fully called over. Then the absentees are called a second time,
    and if still absent, excuses are to be heard. Ord. House of Commons, 92.

    [[Page 151]]

      They rise that their persons may be recognized; the voice, in such a
    crowd, being an insufficient verification of their presence. But in so
    small a body as the Senate of the United States, the trouble of rising
    cannot be necessary.

      Orders for calls on different days may subsist at the same time. 2
    Hats., 72.

      Rule XX provides for a call of the House. Members do not rise on
    answering, and quorum calls are normally conducted by electronic device
    (clause 2(a) of rule XX). Clause 5(c) of rule XX permits the House to
    operate with a ``provisional quorum'' where the House is without a
    quorum due to catastrophic circumstances.
    * * * * *