[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1515 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1515
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to strengthen the
point of order against the consideration of congressional earmarks, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 27, 2008
Mr. Sali (for himself, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, and Mr. Sessions)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on Standards of Official
Conduct, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to strengthen the
point of order against the consideration of congressional earmarks, and
for other purposes.
Resolved, That clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives is amended as follows:
(1) In paragraph (a)(1)--
(A) after ``such list'' insert ``, certified by the
chairman of the relevant committee as the official
action of the referring committee on the bill or joint
resolution,''; and
(B) before the semicolon insert ``to be printed in
the Congressional Record and made available on a list
accessible to and searchable by the public via the
Internet on the website of the Clerk under paragraph
(h)(1) at least 48 hours prior to its consideration by
the full House''.
(2) In paragraph (a)(2)--
(A) strike ``each committee of initial referral''
and insert ``the conference committee that reports such
bill or joint resolution to the House'';
(B) after ``such list'' insert ``, certified by the
chairman of the relevant committee as the official
action of the referring committee on the bill or joint
resolution,''; and
(C) strike ``prior to its consideration'' and
insert ``and made available on a list accessible to and
searchable by the public via the Internet on the
website of the Clerk under paragraph (h)(1) at least 48
hours prior to its consideration by the full House''.
(3) Paragraph (b) is amended to read as follows:
``(b)(1) Any list of congressional earmarks required by paragraph
(a) or paragraph (d)(2) shall include for each earmark, as a part of
that list, the name of any Member who requested that earmark, the total
amount of new budget authority provided for that earmark, the name of
any person or entity that is to receive the earmarked funds, and a
brief, accurate description of the purpose or program for which those
funds shall be expended.
``(2) For the purposes of this clause, any provision or report
language that is inserted by the chairman of a standing committee or
any subcommittee thereof with subject matter jurisdiction over the
measure containing such provision or report language, and that would be
a congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit
but for the fact that it was not requested by any Member, Delegate,
Resident Commissioner, or Senator, and that is either targeted to the
congressional district of such chairman or unrelated to the purpose of
the underlying measure, shall be required to be included in the
applicable list of congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or
limited tariff benefits with the respective chairman designated as the
person requesting the earmarked funds.
``(3) It is the permanent and continuing sense of the House that
there is no legislative intent for any agency of the Federal Government
to obligate funds for any congressionally earmarked funds unless such
earmarked funds are, in full compliance with these rules, included on
the appropriate list of congressional earmarks required by these
rules.''.
(4)(A) Paragraph (c) is amended by inserting before the
first sentence the following new sentence: ``It shall not be in
order to consider a rule or order that waives the application
of paragraph (a) or paragraph (d).''.
(B) Paragraph (c) is amended by inserting ``, or any
inaccuracy in the list required by paragraph (a) or any
inaccuracy in such statement'' before the period at the end.
(5) Redesignate paragraphs (d), (e), and (f) as paragraphs
(e), (f), and (g), respectively, and insert after paragraph (c)
the following new paragraph:
``(d)(1) It shall not be in order to consider any bill or joint
resolution, or amendment thereto or conference report thereon,
described in paragraph (a) if--
``(A) any earmark is contained in such measure or in any
accompanying report or joint statement (as applicable) or in
any other accompanying documentation and that earmark does not
appear on the applicable searchable list accessible to the
public on the Internet as required by paragraph (a);
``(B) any such earmark is sought by any individual,
including any entity employing or retaining such individual,
who was within the prior 18 months employed by the Member,
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who submitted a request to
any committee for that earmark;
``(C) any such earmark will financially benefit the Member,
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who submitted a request to
the committee for that earmark or any family member (as such
term is defined by clause 15(c)(2) of rule XXIII) or any staff
employed by that Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner or
any family member (as such term is defined by clause 15(c)(2)
of rule XXIII as if that definition applied to staff instead of
a Member) of any such staff; or
``(D) any such earmark will benefit any entity that was
established by or at the request or with the assistance of the
Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner, who submitted a
request to any committee for that earmark.
``(2) It shall not be in order to consider a conference report to
accompany a general appropriation bill unless the joint explanatory
statement prepared by the managers on the part of the House and the
managers on the part of the Senate includes a list of all congressional
earmarks in the conference report or joint statement (and the name of
any Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or Senator who submitted a
request to the respective House or Senate committee for each respective
earmark included on such list) that were not committed to the
conference committee by either House, not in a report on such bill, and
not in a report of a committee of the Senate on a companion measure.''.
(6) At the end, add the following new paragraph:
``(h)(1) The Clerk shall establish a website accessible to
and searchable by the public and upon which shall appear, for
the budgeting process for each fiscal year, a list of every
congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, and limited tariff
benefit requested by any Member, Delegate, Resident
Commissioner, or Senator pursuant to this clause and included
in any reported bill or joint resolution or accompanying report
thereto, or in any conference report to accompany any bill or
joint resolution or in any accompanying joint explanatory
statement.
``(2) The chairman of any committee reporting a bill or
joint resolution and the Member who from a committee of
conference submits a conference report shall immediately submit
a list of the congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, and
limited tariff benefits included in that measure or
accompanying report or statement (and, for each such
congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, or limited tariff
benefit, the name of the Member, Delegate, Resident
Commissioner, or Senator who requested that earmark or benefit)
to the Clerk to be used by the Clerk to carry out subparagraph
(1) .''.
Sec. 2. Clause 6(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of
subparagraph (1), by striking the period and inserting a semicolon at
the end of subparagraph (2), and by adding at the end the following new
subparagraphs:
``(3) a rule or order that waives the application of clause
6 of rule XXI; or
``(4) a rule or order that waives the application of
paragraph (a) or (d) of clause 9 of rule XXI.''.
Sec. 3. Clause 17(a) of rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of
subparagraph (4), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (5)
and inserting ``; and'', and by inserting at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(6) in the case of a congressional earmark which is
requested by a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner who
is a candidate for election for any public office, the name and
address of any person who asked the Member, Delegate, or
Resident Commissioner to request the earmark and made a
contribution to the Member's, Delegate's, or Resident
Commissioner's campaign for election for any public office
during the 18-month period which ends on the date of such
request.''.
Sec. 4. (a) Whenever a Member of the House of Representatives
provides a written statement under clause 17(a)(6) of the Rules of the
House of Representatives (as added by section 3) to the chairman and
ranking minority member of a committee, such chairman shall provide the
statement simultaneously in electronic form to the Clerk of the House
of Representatives.
(b) Upon receiving a statement from a chairman under subsection
(a), the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall post the statement
on a publicly accessible website of the Office of the Clerk in a format
which permits individuals to search for categories of information among
all such statements.
(c) In this section, a ``Member of the House of Representatives''
includes a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Congress.
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