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[House Rules Manual -- House Document No. 104-272]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office Online Database]


[Pages i-xvii]

[Page i]
 
                              CONSTITUTION

                           JEFFERSON'S MANUAL

                                   and

                          RULES OF THE HOUSE OF
                             REPRESENTATIVES

                           OF THE UNITED STATES
                        ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS

                            CHARLES W. JOHNSON
                              PARLIAMENTARIAN


                         [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]

[[Page ii]]

104th Congress, 2d Session -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - House Document No. 104-272

_____________________________________________________________________________

                              CONSTITUTION

                           JEFFERSON'S MANUAL

                                   AND

                          RULES OF THE HOUSE OF
                             REPRESENTATIVES

                          OF THE UNITED STATES
                       ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS

                           CHARLES W. JOHNSON
                             PARLIAMENTARIAN

                       [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]


                     U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
37-500                      WASHINGTON : 1997


________________________________________________________________________

               For sale by the U.S. Government Printing 
  Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP Washington, DC 20402-9328


[[Page iii]]

                          HOUSE RESOLUTION 552

                  In the House of Representatives, U.S.,      
                                               September 28, 1996.  
    Resolved, That a revised edition of the Rules and Manual of the 
House of Representatives for the One Hundred Fifth 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:
                                                   Robin H. Carle,      
                                                                Clerk.  

                                  (III)

[[Page v]]

                              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 Fifth Congress were adopted on January 
7, 1997, when the House agreed to House Resolution 5. This resolution 
reinstated the rules of the One Hundred Fourth Congress with amendments 
to various standing rules. Explanations of these changes appear in the 
annotations following each rule in the text of this Manual. The more 
substantive of the changes provided by House Resolution 5 included:
    (1) expansion of the class of questions on which votes may be 
postponed to include amendments and motions to recommit during 
consideration of measures called from the Corrections Calendar (clause 
5(b) of rule I);
    (2) requirement that the Speaker, in consultation with the Minority 
Leader, develop a system for drug testing in the House (clause 13 of 
rule I);
    (3) elimination of the supervisory role of the Speaker over the 
Chief Administrative Officer (clauses 1 and 2 of rule V);
    (4) consolidation of jurisdiction over budget process in the 
Committee on the Budget (clause 1 of rule X);
    (5) redesignation of the Committee on Economic and Educational 
Opportunities as the Committee on Education and the Workforce (rule X);
    (6) requirement of approval by the chairman and the ranking minority 
party member of the Committee on House Oversight of the amount of a 
monetary settlement of a complaint under the Congressional 
Accountability Act of 1995 (clause 4(d) of rule X);

[[Page vi]]

    (7) provisions for: (a) dispensing with the reading of an 
investigative or oversight report in committee if it has been available 
for 24 hours; (b) joint filing of a report of an investigation or study 
conducted by more than one committee; and (c) filing of an investigative 
or oversight report after adjournment of a Congress sine die, provided 
that a member of the committee who gives timely notice is given seven 
days to submit separate views (clause 1(b) of rule XI);
    (8) authorization for the chairman of a committee to file a final 
activity report, without formal approval, after adjournment of a 
Congress sine die, provided that the report has been available to each 
member of the committee for seven days and includes any separate views 
submitted by a member (clause 1(d) of rule XI);
    (9) encouragement to committees to make their publications available 
in electronic form (clause 2(e) of rule XI);
    (10) encouragement to committees to elicit curricula vitae and 
disclosures of certain interests from nongovernmental witnesses (clause 
2(g) of rule XI);
    (11) elimination of the prohibition against a committee's sitting 
during proceedings on the floor under the five-minute rule (clause 2(i) 
of rule XI);
    (12) exceptions to the five-minute rule in committee hearings for 
extended examinations of witnesses by designated members or by staff 
(clause 2(j) of rule XI);
    (13) replacement of the requirement of a statement of inflationary 
impact in a committee report of a public bill or joint resolution with 
one requiring a statement of Constitutional authority (clause 2(l) of 
rule XI);
    (14) reduction of the time guaranteed for composing separate views 
for inclusion in a committee report from three full days to two full 
days after the day of notice, and establishment of standing authority 
for committees to file reports with the Clerk after honoring that 
guarantee (clause 2(l) of rule XI);
    (15) authorization for inclusion in a primary expense resolution of 
a reserve fund for unanticipated expenses of committees, to be allocated 
by the Committee on House Oversight (clause 5(a) of rule XI);
    (16) authorization for the Speaker to call bills from the 
Corrections Calendar at any time on a Corrections day and in any order 
(clause 4(a) of rule XIII);
    (17) authorization for a report of the Committee on Ways and Means 
on major tax legislation (as designated by the Majority Leader after 
consultation with the Minor-

[[Page vii]]

ity Leader) to include a dynamic estimate of the effect of 
such legislation on Federal revenues, to be prepared by 
the Joint Committee on Taxation (clause 7(e) of rule XIII);
    (18) treatment of a so-called ``made-known'' provision (i.e., one 
making funding contingent on a state of knowledge not required by 
existing law) as legislation in a general appropriation bill or an 
amendment thereto (clause 2(a) and (c) of rule XXI);
    (19) elevation of the Majority Leader's preferential motion to rise 
and report at the end of the reading of a general appropriation bill in 
the Committee of the Whole to take precedence of any motion to amend at 
that stage (clause 2(d) of rule XXI);
    (20) clarification of the meanings of the terms ``Federal income tax 
rate increase'' and ``retroactive'' (clause 5(c) and (d) of rule XXI);
    (21) clarification of the definition of ``unfunded mandate'' (clause 
5(c) of rule XXIII);
    (22) clarification that, to be a proper object of a discharge 
petition, a resolution providing a special rule must address the 
consideration of only one measure and must not propose to admit or 
effect a nongermane amendment (clause 3 of rule XXVII);
    (23) prohibition of the distribution of campaign contributions in 
the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto (clause 5 of rule XXXII);
    (24) redesignation of the Gift Rule (rule LI); and
    (25) establishment of a Select Committee on Ethics only to resolve 
an inquiry, originally undertaken by the standing Committee on Standards 
of Official Conduct in the 104th Congress, by January 21, 1997 (clause 
4(e)(3) of rule X).
    Several changes in the standing rules that were made during the One 
Hundred Fourth Congress but subsequent to the publication of the House 
Rules and Manual for that Congress are now described in the annotations 
following each rule in this edition. Two of these changes bear mention 
here:
    (1) expansion of the limitations on outside employment and outside 
earned income to include prohibitions on the receipt of advance payments 
on copyright royalties and on the receipt of any payments on copyright 
royalties under future contracts unless approved in advance by the 
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (clause 3 of rule XLVII); and

[[Page viii]]

    (2) adoption of the Gift Rule, which prohibits Members, officers, 
and employees of the House from accepting any gift except as stated in 
the rule (now rule LI).
    Statutory provisions constituting rules of the House contained in 
the Line Item Veto Act (P.L. 104-130) are shown in section 1013(6B) of 
this edition. Statutory provisions contained in the Budget Enforcement 
Act of 1997 (tit. X, P.L. 105-33) are shown in sections 1007, 1008, and 
1013(6A) of this edition.
    As noted in section 698 of this edition, a bipartisan task force was 
established on February 12, 1997, to conduct a comprehensive review of 
the House ethics process. At the same time the House imposed a 
moratorium on filing ethics complaints and on raising certain questions 
of privilege under rule IX with respect to official conduct. The 
moratorium was extended through September 10, 1997. On September 18, 
1997, the House adopted the recommendations of the task force with 
certain amendments when the House agreed to House Resolution 168. House 
Resolution 168 amended rules X and XI and contained free-standing 
directives to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The 
provisions of House Resolution 168 included:
    (1) establishment of a ``pool'' of Members who may be assigned to 
serve on investigative subcommittees (clause 6(a) of rule X), and 
exclusion of service on such subcommittee from the limitation on 
subcommittee service (clause 6(b)(2)(A) of rule X);
    (2) change in the duration of service on the committee (clause 
6(a)(2) of rule X);
    (3) requirement of a committee rule guaranteeing the ranking 
minority member the right to place an item on the agenda (sec. 3, H. 
Res. 168);
    (4) requirement of a committee rule setting specified standards for 
staff, providing for appointment of staff, permitting the retention of 
outside counsel or temporary staff, and permitting both the chairman and 
the ranking minority member one additional staff (sec. 4, H. Res. 168);
    (5) requirement that each meeting be held in executive session 
unless opened by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members, and 
requirement that each adjudicatory subcommittee hearing or full 
committee sanction hearing be open unless closed by an affirmative vote 
of a majority of its members (clause 4(e)(3) of rule X; clause 2(g)(1) 
and clause 2(g)(2) of rule XI);

[[Page ix]]

    (6) requirement of confidentiality oath by a member, officer, or 
employee having access to committee information (clause 4(e) of rule X);
    (7) requirement of a committee rule permitting only the chairman or 
ranking minority member to make public statements regarding matters 
before the committee, unless otherwise determined by a vote of the 
committee (sec. 7, H. Res. 168);
    (8) exception for committee votes taken in executive session from 
clause 2(e)(1) and clause 2(l)(2)(B) of rule XI, which requires 
committees to disclose rollcall votes (clause 2(e)(1) and clause 
2(l)(2)(B) of rule XI);
    (9) permission for non-Member to file information offered as a 
complaint only if a Member certifies the information is submitted in 
good faith and warrants committee consideration (clause 4(e)(2)(B) of 
rule X);
    (10) requirement of a committee rule providing the chairman and 
ranking minority member 14 calendar days or 5 legislative days 
(whichever occurs first) to determine whether information offered as a 
complaint constitutes a complaint (sec. 10, H. Res. 168);
    (11) authority for the chairman and ranking minority member jointly 
to appoint members from the ``pool'' (see item (1) above) to serve on an 
investigative subcommittee, and authority for the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the committee jointly to gather preliminary 
additional information with regard to a complaint or information offered 
as a complaint (clause 4(e)(2)(A) of rule X);
    (12) requirement of a committee rule granting the chairman and 
ranking minority member, unless otherwise determined by an affirmative 
vote of the majority of committee members, 45 calendar days or 5 
legislative days (whichever occurs later) after the date they determine 
the information filed constitutes a complaint to: (a) recommend 
disposition of the complaint; (b) establish an investigative 
subcommittee; or (c) request an extension; further committee rule 
requiring the chairman and ranking minority member to establish an 
investigative subcommittee to consider a complaint not disposed by the 
expiration of the time limit; and requirement that complaint placed on 
the agenda before expiration of the time limit be referred to an 
investigative subcommittee only by an affirmative vote of the members of 
the committee (sec. 11, H. Res. 168; clause 4(e)(2)(B) of rule X);

[[Page x]]

    (13) requirement of a committee rule for disposing of information 
not constituting a proper complaint (sec. 12, H. Res. 168);
    (14) requirement of a committee rule setting parameters for the 
composition of investigative and adjudicatory subcommittees (sec. 13, H. 
Res. 168);
    (15) requirement of a committee rule establishing a standard of 
proof for the adoption of a statement of alleged violation (sec. 14, H. 
Res. 168);
    (16) authority to authorize and issue a subcommittee subpoena only 
by affirmative vote of a majority of its members (sec. 15, H. Res. 168; 
clause 2(m)(2)(A) of rule XI);
    (17) requirement of a committee rule authorizing expansion of the 
scope of an investigation by an investigative subcommittee upon an 
affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the full committee 
(sec. 15, H. Res. 168);
    (18) requirement of a committee rule authorizing an investigative 
subcommittee to amend its statement of alleged violation any time before 
it is transmitted to the committee and granting 30 calendar days for a 
respondent to file an answer to the amended statement of alleged 

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