    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 115th Congress]
    [115th Congress]
    [House Document 114-192]
    [Front Matter]
    [Pages i-iii]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page i]]

    114th Congress, 2d Session -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - House Document No. 114-192

    _______________________________________________________________________

                                  CONSTITUTION

                               JEFFERSON'S MANUAL

                                       AND

                              RULES OF THE HOUSE OF

                                 REPRESENTATIVES

                              OF THE UNITED STATES

                         ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

                                THOMAS J. WICKHAM

                                 PARLIAMENTARIAN

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

     24-824                   WASHINGTON : 2017

    ________________________________________________________________________

    For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing

                                     Office

                              Washington, DC 20402

    [[Page iii]]

                              HOUSE RESOLUTION 945

                     In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                                                         December 6, 2016.

        Resolved, That a revised edition of the Rules and Manual of the
    House of Representatives for the One Hundred Fifteenth 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 eighty copies shall be bound in leather with thumb
    index and delivered as may be directed by the Parliamentarian of the
    House.

        Attest:

                                                        Karen L. Haas,

                                                                    Clerk.

    [[Page [v]]

                                      (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 Fifteenth Congress were adopted on
    January 3, 2017, 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 Fifteenth Congress.
    Explanations of the changes to the standing rules appear in the
    annotations following each rule in the text of this Manual.

        The substantive changes in the standing rules made by House
    Resolution 5 of the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress included:

        (1) authority for the Sergeant-at-Arms to impose a fine for
    unauthorized photography or audio or visual recording or broadcasting in
    the Chamber by a Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner, subject
    to appeal to the Committee on Ethics, and authority for the Chief
    Administrative Officer to deduct a fine from salary otherwise due
    (clause 3(g) of rule II; clause 4(d) of rule II);

        (2) authority for the House, the Speaker, a committee, or a
    committee chair to continue litigation matters authorized in a prior
    Congress (clause 8 of rule II);

        (3) clarification on ownership and control of the records of a
    Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner (clause 6(b) of rule
    VII);

        (4) restatement of the procedure for responding to subpoenas to
    conform to practice (rule VIII);

    [[Page [vi]]

        (5) expansion of committee oversight plans to also include plans to
    review and reauthorize programs and agencies with lapsed authorization
    (clause 2(d) of rule X);

        (6) authority for several committees to exceed the limit on the
    number of subcommittees allowed, codifying previous separate orders to
    that effect (clause 5(d) of rule X);

        (7) requirement that committee reports include statement on
    duplicative Federal programs (clause 3(c) of rule XIII);

        (8) clarification of the Ramseyer rule to remove an unintended
    consequence of a change effected in the 114th Congress (clause 3(e) of
    rule XIII);

        (9) authority for the Committee on Homeland Security to close
    additional days of hearings (clause 2(g) of rule XI);

        (10) restriction on disorderly or disruptive conduct in the Chamber
    during legislative proceedings (clause 9 of rule XVII);

        (11) authority for the Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to
    preside over the Committee of the Whole (clause 1 of rule XVIII);

        (12) expansion of the Speaker's authority to postpone votes to
    include the question of adopting a motion to recommit and the question
    of adopting a motion to concur in a Senate amendment (clause 8(a) of
    rule XX);

        (13) clarification on the Speaker's authority to reduce voting time
    on a question arising after a report from the Committee of the Whole or
    on the question of adoption a motion to recommit (clause 9(b) of rule
    XX);

        (14) restriction on an amendment to a general appropriation bill
    proposing a net increase in the level of budget authority in the bill
    (clause 2(g) of rule XXI);

        (15) requirement for a comparative print for any bill, joint
    resolution, or amendment in the nature of a substitute proposing to
    amend or repeal current law showing such changes, and for a comparative
    print for a reported bill or joint resolution showing changes between
    the form of the measure as reported and as considered on the floor
    (effective December 31, 2017) (clause 12 of rule XXI); and

        (16) designation of the document repository operated by the Clerk as
    the location at which documents may be made electronically available for
    purposes of satisfying layover requirements (clause 3 of rule XXIX).

        In addition to the amendments cited above, mobility-based references
    throughout the standing rules were eliminated or replaced with mobility-
    neutral language (sec. 2(e), H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2017, p. _).

        Citations in this edition refer to:

    [[Page [vii]]

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

        (2) Deschler's Precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives
    (volumes 1 through 9), Deschler-Brown Precedents of the U.S. House of
    Representatives (volumes 10 through 16), Deschler-Brown-Johnson
    Precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives (volume 17), and
    Deschler-Brown-Johnson-Sullivan Precedents of the U.S. House of
    Representatives (volume 18), by 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 (2017), 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. Volume 18 of Deschler-
    Brown-Johnson-Sullivan Precedents also features a commentary by former
    Parliamentarian Charles W. Johnson, III, noting procedural highlights
    during his affiliation with the House.

        All of the members of the Office of the Parliamentarian - Ethan
    Lauer, Jay Smith, Anne Gooch, Kyle Jones, Julia Cook, Brian Cooper,
    Lloyd Jenkins, and Kristen Donahue, as well as Charles Johnson, Max
    Spitzer, Andrew Neal, Catherine Moran, and Bryan Feldblum - worked
    diligently to annotate the decisions of the Chair and other
    parliamentary precedents of the 114th Congress and of the 115th Congress
    to the date of publication of this edition. Their contributions, and
    their devotion to the pursuit of excellence in the procedural practices
    of the House, are gratefully acknowledged. Particular appreciation goes
    to Ethan Lauer for his initiative and steady hand in managing the
    project.

                                                    Thomas J. Wickham, Jr.

    [[Page [ix]]

      May 26, 2017

                                    CONTENTS

                                   __________

                                THE CONSTITUTION

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

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

                       II.--The executive power.......................    66

                      III.--The judicial power........................    78

                       IV.--Obligations, duties, etc., of the States..    80

                        V.--Amendments to.............................    82

                       VI.--Law of the land, etc......................    84

                      VII.--Ratification of...........................    89

                            Amendments ratified.......................    91

                               JEFFERSON'S MANUAL

                Section I.--Importance of adhering to rules...........   127

                      III.--Privilege.................................   130

                       VI.--Quorum....................................   150

                      VII.--Call of the House.........................   151

                       IX.--Speaker...................................   152

                        X.--Address...................................   154

                       XI.--Committees................................   155

                      XII.--Committee of the Whole....................   158

                     XIII.--Examination of witnesses..................   167

                      XIV.--Arrangement of business...................   172

                       XV.--Order.....................................   174

                      XVI.--Order respecting papers...................   174

                     XVII.--Order in debate...........................   175

                    XVIII.--Orders of the House.......................   199

                      XIX.--Petition..................................   202

                       XX.--Motion....................................   204

                      XXI.--Resolutions...............................   205

                    XXIII.--Bills, leave to bring in..................   207

                     XXIV.--Bills, first reading......................   207

                      XXV.--Bills, second reading.....................   208

                     XXVI.--Bills, commitment.........................   209

    [[Page [x]]

                    XXVII.--Report of committee.......................   219

                                                                        Page

           Section XXVIII.--Bill, recommitment........................   220

                     XXIX.--Bills, reports taken up...................   221

                      XXX.--Quasi-committee...........................   223

                     XXXI.--Bill, second reading in the House.........   227

                    XXXII.--Reading papers............................   229

                   XXXIII.--Privileged questions......................   231

                    XXXIV.--The previous question.....................   244

                     XXXV.--Amendments................................   246

                    XXXVI.--Division of the question..................   255

                   XXXVII.--Coexisting questions......................   258

                  XXXVIII.--Equivalent questions......................   259

                    XXXIX.--The question..............................   261

                       XL.--Bills, third reading......................   262

                      XLI.--Division of the House.....................   266

                     XLII.--Titles....................................   271

                    XLIII.--Reconsideration...........................   272

                     XLIV.--Bills sent to the other House.............   275

                      XLV.--Amendments between the Houses.............   276

                     XLVI.--Conferences...............................   286

                    XLVII.--Messages..................................   300

                   XLVIII.--Assent....................................   304

                     XLIX.--Journals..................................   307

                        L.--Adjournment...............................   309

                       LI.--A session.................................   311

                      LII.--Treaties..................................   314

                     LIII.--Impeachment...............................   318

                               RULES OF THE HOUSE

                   Rule I.--The Speaker...............................   339

                       II.--Other Officers and Officials..............   363

                      III.--The Members, Delegates, and Resident

                            Commissioner of Puerto Rico...............   385

                       IV.--The Hall of the House.....................   390

                        V.--Broadcasting the House....................   398

                       VI.--Official Reporters and News Media

                            Galleries.................................   401

                      VII.--Records of the House......................   413

                     VIII.--Response to Subpoenas.....................   417

                       IX.--Questions of Privilege....................   420

                        X.--Organization of Committees................   441

                       XI.--Procedures of Committees and Unfinished

                            Business..................................   554

                      XII.--Receipt and Referral of Measures and

                            Matters...................................   623

                     XIII.--Calendars and Committee Reports...........   638

                      XIV.--Order and Priority of Business............   674

    [[Page [xi]]

                       XV.--Business in Order on Special Days.........   685

                                                                        Page

                 Rule XVI.--Motions and Amendments....................   704

                     XVII.--Decorum and Debate........................   759

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

                            state of the Union........................   791

                      XIX.--Motions Following the Amendment Stage.....   821

                       XX.--Voting and Quorum Calls...................   837

                      XXI.--Restrictions on Certain Bills.............   868

                     XXII.--House and Senate Relations................   928

                    XXIII.--Code of Official Conduct..................   955

                     XXIV.--Limitations on Use of Official Funds......   968

                      XXV.--Limitations on Outside Earned Income and

                            Acceptance of Gifts.......................   973

                     XXVI.--Financial Disclosure......................  1002

                    XXVII.--Disclosure by Members and Staff of

                            Employment Negotiations...................  1028

                   XXVIII.--[Reserved]................................  1029

                     XXIX.--General Provisions........................  1030
    Provisions of Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, as Amended by the

        Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, Applicable to Both Houses
    Congressional adjournment.........................................  1035
    Preservation of committee hearings................................  1036

                           Joint and Select Committees
    Economic Committee, Joint.........................................  1037
    Taxation, Joint Committee on......................................  1037
    Library, Joint Committee of Congress on the.......................  1038
    Printing, Joint Committee on......................................  1038
    Inaugural Ceremonies, Joint Congressional Committee on............  1038
    Select committees.................................................  1038

    [[Page [xii]]

                         House and Congressional Offices
    House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards...............  1041
    House Office Building Commission..................................  1041
    Government Accountability Office..................................  1041
    Office of Compliance..............................................  1041
    Congressional Research Service....................................  1042
    Legislative Counsel...............................................  1042
    Congressional Budget Office.......................................  1042
    Law Revision Counsel..............................................  1042
    Technology Assessment.............................................  1042
    Office of the Parliamentarian.....................................  1042
    Speaker's Office for Legislative Floor Activities.................  1043

                                                                        Page
    Office of Interparliamentary Affairs..............................  1043
    House Recording Studio............................................  1043
    United States Capitol Preservation Commission.....................  1043
    Office of General Counsel.........................................  1043
    Former Office of Emergency Planning, Preparedness, and Operations.  1044
    Office of Attending Physician.....................................  1044
    Office of Architect of the Capitol................................  1044
    House Democracy Partnership.......................................  1044
    Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission................................  1044
    Office of Congressional Ethics....................................  1045
    Early organization of the House...................................  1047

              Miscellaneous Provisions of Congressional Budget Laws
    Congressional Budget Act of 1974..................................  1053
    Budget Enforcement Act of 1990....................................  1133
    Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010...............................  1137

                      Legislative Procedures Enacted in Law
    Measures privileged for consideration in House....................  1141

    [[Page [xiii]]

                                      Index
    Index.............................................................  1325

                            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 6.

    Every Wednesday:

                                   Wednesdays

                  Motions to suspend rules. Rule XV, clause 1.