[United States Senate Manual, 112th Congress]
[S. Doc. 112-1]
[Standing Rules of the Senate]
[Pages 6-7]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


         7                            RULE VII

                                  MORNING BUSINESS

       7.1      1. On each legislative day after the Journal is read, 
            the Presiding Officer on demand of any Senator shall lay 
            before the Senate messages from the President, reports and 
            communications from the heads of Departments, and other 
            communications addressed to the Senate, and such bills, 
            joint resolutions, and other messages from the House of 
            Representatives as may remain upon his table from any 
            previous day's session undisposed of. The Presiding Officer 
            on demand of any Senator shall then call for, in the 
            following order:
                        The presentation of petitions and memorials.
                        Reports of committees.
                        The introduction of bills and joint resolutions.

                        The submission of other resolutions.
            All of which shall be received and disposed of in such 
            order, unless unanimous consent shall be otherwise given, 
            with newly offered resolutions being called for before 
            resolutions coming over from a previous legislative day are 
            laid before the Senate.

       7.2      2. Until the morning business shall have been concluded, 
            and so announced from the Chair, or until one hour after the 
            Senate convenes at the beginning of a new legislative day, 
            no motion to proceed to the consideration of any bill, 
            resolution, report of a committee, or other subject upon the 
            Calendar shall be entertained by the Presiding Officer, 
            unless by unanimous consent: Provided, however, That on 
            Mondays which are the beginning of a legislative day the 
            Calendar shall be called under rule VIII, and until two 
            hours after the Senate convenes no motion shall be 
            entertained to proceed to the consideration of any bill, 
            resolution, or other subject upon the Calendar except the 
            motion to continue the consideration of a bill, resolution, 
            or other subject against objection as provided in rule VIII, 
            or until the call of the Calendar has been completed.
       7.3      3. The Presiding Officer may at any time lay, and it 
            shall be in order at any time for a Senator to move to lay, 
            before the Senate, any bill or other matter sent to the 
            Senate by the President or the House of Representatives for 
            appropriate action allowed under the rules and any question

[[Page 7]]

            pending at that time shall be suspended for this purpose. 
            Any motion so made shall be determined without debate.
       7.4      4. Petitions or memorials shall be referred, without 
            debate, to the appropriate committee according to subject 
            matter on the same basis as bills and resolutions, if signed 
            by the petitioner or memorialist. A question of receiving or 
            reference may be raised and determined without debate. But 
            no petition or memorial or other paper signed by citizens or 
            subjects of a foreign power shall be received, unless the 
            same be transmitted to the Senate by the President.
       7.5      5. Only a brief statement of the contents of petitions 
            and memorials shall be printed in the Congressional Record; 
            and no other portion of any petition or memorial shall be 
            printed in the Record unless specifically so ordered by vote 
            of the Senate, as provided for in paragraph 4 of rule XI, in 
            which case the order shall be deemed to apply to the body of 
            the petition or memorial only; and names attached to the 
            petition or memorial shall not be printed unless specially 
            ordered, except that petitions and memorials from the 
            legislatures or conventions, lawfully called, of the 
            respective States, Territories, and insular possessions 
            shall be printed in full in the Record whenever presented.
       7.6      6. Senators having petitions, memorials, bills, or 
            resolutions to present after the morning hour may deliver 
            them in the absence of objection to the Presiding Officer's 
            desk, endorsing upon them their names, and with the approval 
            of the Presiding Officer, they shall be entered on the 
            Journal with the names of the Senators presenting them and 
            in the absence of objection shall be considered as having 
            been read twice and referred to the appropriate committees, 
            and a transcript of such entries shall be furnished to the 
            official reporter of debates for publication in the 
            Congressional Record, under the direction of the Secretary 
            of the Senate.