    [United States Senate Manual, 113th Congress]
    [S. Doc. 113-1]
    [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.