[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 110th Congress]
[110th Congress]
[House Document 109-157]
[Jeffersons Manual of ParliamentaryPractice]
[Pages 200-201]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 

                             sec. xx--motion

Sec. 392. Parliamentary law as to making, withdrawing, and reading of motions. When a motion has been made, it is not to be put to the question or debated until it is seconded. Scob., 21.
It is then, and not till then, in possession of the House, and can not be withdrawn but by leave of the House. It is to be put into writing, if the House or Speaker require it, and must be read to the House by the Speaker as often as any Member desires it for his information. 2 Hats., 82. The House has long since dispensed with the requirement of a second for ordinary motions (clause 1 of rule XVI; V, 5304); and the requirement of a second for a motion to suspend the rules was eliminated in the 102d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 1991, p. 39). Clause 2 of rule XVI provides further that a motion may be withdrawn before decision or amendment (see Sec. 904, infra); and clause 1 of the same rule provides that the motion shall be reduced to writing on the demand of any Member (see Sec. 902, infra). In the practice of the House, when a paper on which the House is to vote has been read once, the reading may not be required again unless the House shall order it read (V, 5260). [[Page 201]] order in another to interrupt him, unless by calling him to order if he departs from it. And the question of order being decided, he is still to be heard through. A call for adjournment, or for the order of the day, or for the question, by gentlemen from their seats, is <> not a motion. No motion can be made without rising and addressing the Chair. Such calls are themselves breaches of order, which, though the Member who has risen may respect, as an expression of impatience of the House against further debate, yet, if he chooses, he has a right to go on.
Sec. 393. Interruptions of the Member having the floor. It might be asked whether a motion for adjournment or for the orders of the day can be made by one Member while another is speaking? It can not. When two Members offer to speak, he who rose first is to be heard, and it is a breach of
The practice of the House has modified the principle that the Member who rises first is to be recognized (clause 2 of rule XVII); but in other respects the principles of this paragraph of the law of Parliament are in force.