[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 109th Congress]
[109th Congress]
[House Document 108-241]
[Front Matter]
[Pages 1-13]
[From the U.S. Government Printing 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);
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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
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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.