IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 659 

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to protect the integrity 

of the institution. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2006 

Mr. OBEY (for himself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. PRICE of North 

Carolina, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BACA, 

Mr. BAIRD, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BARROW, Mr. BECERRA, Ms. BERKLEY, 

Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 

Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. BOREN, Mr. BOYD, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. 

BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CARDOZA, Ms. CARSON, Mr. CASE, Mr. 

CHANDLER, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COOPER, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. CROWLEY, 

Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. DAVIS of California, 

Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. EVANS, Mr. 

FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FORD, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. 

GORDON, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. 

HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. HERSETH, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. 

HINOJOSA, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HOYER, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. KILDEE, 

Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LEWIS of 

Georgia, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MARSHALL, Ms. MATSUI, 

Mrs. MCCARTHY, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. MILLER

of North Carolina, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. MILLENDERMCDONALD, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. 

MORAN of Virginia, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

OLVER, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. OWENS, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. REYES, Mr. ROSS, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. 

RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. SALAZAR, Ms. LINDA T. 

SA ́NCHEZ of California, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. 

SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. SNYDER, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. 

SPRATT, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. STUPAK, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. TAYLOR

of Mississippi, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. UDALL of New 

Mexico, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WATSON, Mr. WATT, 
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Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. WU) 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 

protect the integrity of the institution. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. LIMITING INFLUENCE BY LOBBYISTS. 

3 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCEPTING PAYMENT OF

4 TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Clause 5 of rule XXV of the Rules 

5 of the House of Representatives is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (e) and (f) as 

7 paragraphs (f) and (g); and 

8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (d) the fol9 lowing new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(e) Before a Member, Delegate, Resident Commis11 sioner, officer, or employee of the House may accept trans12 portation or lodging or reimbursement for such expenses 

13 which are otherwise permitted to be accepted or reim14 bursed under this clause, the Member, Delegate, Resident 

15 Commissioner, officer, or employee (as the case may be) 

16 shall obtain a written certification from the sponsoring or17 ganization or person stating that— 
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•HRES 659 IH 

1 ‘‘(1) no registered lobbyist has been invited to 

2 participate in the transportation, lodging, or any as3 sociated meetings; 

4 ‘‘(2) the organization or person conducts no 

5 lobbying activities as defined in section 501 of the 

6 Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

7 ‘‘(3) the organization or person neither employs 

8 nor contracts for the services of a registered lobbyist 

9 nor is affiliated with an organization that employs or 

10 contracts for the services of a registered lobbyist; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(4) no part of the trip is financed by a cor13 poration or person, unless the trip is financed by 

14 contributions that are deductible under the Internal 

15 Revenue Code of 1986 and the source of all such 

16 contributions are disclosed in the written certifi17 cation. 

18 Each such certification shall be signed by the individual 

19 receiving it and filed with the Clerk who shall make such 

20 signed certification available to the public in a timely man21 ner.’’. 

22 (b) FLOOR PRIVILEGES OF FORMER MEMBERS AND

23 HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS.— 

24 (1) Clause 4(a) of rule IV of the Rules of the 

25 House of Representatives is amended— 
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub2 paragraph (1); 

3 (B) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; 

4 and’’ at the end of subparagraph (2); and 

5 (C) by inserting at the end the following 

6 new subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(3) they sign a declaration each time they are 

8 admitted to the Hall of the House or the rooms 

9 leading thereto, to be maintained by the Sergeant10 at-Arms, stating that the conditions set forth in sub11 paragraphs (1) and (2) are true and also that they 

12 will not lobby for the passage, amendment, or defeat 

13 of any legislative measure pending before the House, 

14 reported by a committee, or under consideration in 

15 any of its committees or subcommittees.’’. 

16 (2) Clauses 2(a)(12) and (14) of rule IV of the 

17 Rules of the House of Representatives are each 

18 amended by inserting ‘‘(subject to clause (4)’’ before 

19 the period. 

20 SEC. 2. FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY. 

21 (a) RECONCILIATION.—Clause 10 of rule XVIII of 

22 the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 

23 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(d) It shall not be in order to consider any reconcili25 ation legislation which has the net effect of reducing the 
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1 surplus or increasing the deficit compared to the most re2 cent Congressional Budget Office estimate for any fiscal 

3 year.’’. 

4 (b) APPLICATION OF POINTS OF ORDER UNDER

5 CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT TO ALL BILLS AND JOINT

6 RESOLUTIONS CONSIDERED UNDER SPECIAL ORDERS OF

7 BUSINESS.—Rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Rep8 resentatives is amended by adding at the end the following 

9 new clause: 

10 ‘‘7. For purposes of applying section 315 of the Con11 gressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, 

12 the term ‘as reported’ under such section shall be consid13 ered to include any bill or joint resolution considered in 

14 the House pursuant to a special order of business.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. CURBING ABUSES OF POWER. 

16 (a) LIMIT ON TIME PERMITTED FOR RECORDED

17 ELECTRONIC VOTES.—Clause 2(a) of rule XX of the 

18 Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by in19 serting after the second sentence the following sentence: 

20 ‘‘The maximum time for a record vote by electronic device 

21 shall be 20 minutes, except that the time may be extended 

22 with the consent of both the majority and minority floor 

23 managers of the legislation involved or both the majority 

24 leader and the minority leader.’’. 
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•HRES 659 IH 

1 (b) CONGRESSIONAL INTEGRITY.—Rule XXIII of the 

2 Rules of the House of Representatives (the Code of Offi3 cial Conduct) is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating clause 14 as clause 16; 

5 and 

6 (2) by inserting after clause 13 the following 

7 new clauses: 

8 ‘‘14. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner 

9 shall not condition the inclusion of language to provide 

10 funding for a district-oriented earmark, a particular 

11 project which will be carried out in a Member’s congres12 sional district, or a limited tax benefit in any bill or joint 

13 resolution (or an accompanying report thereof) or in any 

14 conference report on a bill or joint resolution (including 

15 an accompanying joint statement of managers thereto) on 

16 any vote cast by the Member, Delegate, or Resident Com17 missioner in whose Congressional district the project will 

18 be carried out. 

19 ‘‘15. (a) A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commis20 sioner who advocates to include a district-oriented ear21 mark in any bill or joint resolution (or an accompanying 

22 report) or in any conference report on a bill or joint resolu23 tion (including an accompanying joint statement of man24 agers thereto) shall disclose in writing to the chairman 

25 and ranking member of the relevant committee (and in 
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•HRES 659 IH 

1 the case of the Committee on Appropriations to the chair2 man and ranking member of the full committee and of 

3 the relevant subcommittee)— 

4 ‘‘(1) the name of the Member, Delegate, or 

5 Resident Commissioner; 

6 ‘‘(2) the name and address of the intended re7 cipient of such earmark; 

8 ‘‘(3) the purpose of such earmark; and 

9 ‘‘(4) whether the Member, Delegate, or Resi10 dent Commissioner has a financial interest in such 

11 earmark. 

12 ‘‘(b) Each committee shall make available to the gen13 eral public the information transmitted to the committee 

14 under paragraph (a) for any earmark included in any 

15 measure reported by the committee or conference report 

16 filed by the chairman of the committee or any sub17 committee thereof. 

18 ‘‘(c) The Joint Committee on Taxation shall review 

19 any revenue measure or any reconciliation bill or joint res20 olution which includes revenue provisions before it is re21 ported by a committee and before it is filed by a committee 

22 of conference of the two Houses, and shall identify wheth23 er such bill or joint resolution contains any limited tax 

24 benefits. The Joint Committee on Taxation shall prepare 

25 a statement identifying any such limited tax benefits, stat-
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•HRES 659 IH 

1 ing who the beneficiaries are of such benefits, and any 

2 substantially similar introduced measures and the spon3 sors of such measures. Any such statement shall be made 

4 available to the general public by the Joint Committee on 

5 Taxation.’’. 

6 (c) RESTRICTIONS ON REPORTING CERTAIN

7 RULES.—Clause 6(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

8 House of Representatives is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

10 (1); 

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub12 paragraph (2) and inserting a semicolon; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub14 paragraphs: 

15 ‘‘(3) a rule or order for consideration of a bill 

16 or joint resolution reported by a committee that 

17 makes in order as original text for purposes of 

18 amendment, text which differs from such bill or joint 

19 resolution as recommended by such committee to be 

20 amended unless the rule or order also makes in 

21 order as preferential a motion to amend that is nei22 ther divisible nor amendable but, if adopted will be 

23 considered original text for purposes of amendment, 

24 if requested by the chairman or ranking minority 

25 member of the reporting committee, and such rule 
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1 or order shall waive all necessary points of order 

2 against that amendment only if it restores all or 

3 part of the text of the bill or joint resolution as rec4 ommended by such committee or strikes some or all 

5 of the original text inserted by the Committee on 

6 Rules that was not contained in the recommended 

7 version; 

8 ‘‘(4) a rule or order that waives any points of 

9 order against consideration of a bill or joint resolu10 tion, against provisions in the measure, or against 

11 consideration of amendments recommended by the 

12 reporting committee unless the rule or order makes 

13 in order and waives the same points of order against 

14 one germane amendment if requested by the minor15 ity leader or a designee; 

16 ‘‘(5) a rule or order that waives clause 10(d) of 

17 rule XVIII, unless the majority leader and minority 

18 leader each agree to the waiver and a question of 

19 consideration of the rule is adopted by a vote of two20 thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being 

21 present; or 

22 ‘‘(6) a rule or order that waives clause 12(a) of 

23 rule XXII.’’. 
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1 SEC. 4. ENDING 2-DAY WORK WEEKS. 

2 Rule XV of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

3 is amended by adding at the end the following new clause: 

4 ‘‘8. It shall not be in order to consider a resolution 

5 providing for adjournment sine die unless, during at least 

6 20 weeks of the session, a quorum call or recorded vote 

7 was taken on at least 4 of the weekdays (excluding legal 

8 public holidays).’’. 

9 SEC. 5. KNOWING WHAT THE HOUSE IS VOTING ON. 

10 (a) BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Rule XIII of the Rules of 

12 the House of Representatives is amended by adding 

13 at the end the following new clause: 

14 ‘‘8. Except for motions to suspend the rules and con15 sider legislation, it shall not be in order to consider in the 

16 House a bill or joint resolution until 24 hours after or, 

17 in the case of a bill or joint resolution containing a dis18 trict-oriented earmark or limited tax benefit, until 3 days 

19 after copies of such bill or joint resolution (and, if the bill 

20 or joint resolution is reported, copies of the accompanying 

21 report) are available (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, or 

22 legal holidays except when the House is in session on such 

23 a day).’’. 

24 (2) PROHIBITING WAIVER.—Clause 6(c) of rule 

25 XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, 

26 as amended by section 3(a), is further amended— 
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•HRES 659 IH 

1 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara2 graph (5); 

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

4 subparagraph (6) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

6 subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(7) a rule or order that waives clause 8 of rule 

8 XIII or clause 8(a)(1)(B) of rule XXII, unless a 

9 question of consideration of the rule is adopted by 

10 a vote of two-thirds of the Members voting, a 

11 quorum being present.’’. 

12 (b) CONFERENCE REPORTS.—Clause 8(a)(1)(B) of 

13 rule XXII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 

14 is amended by striking ‘‘2 hours’’ and inserting ‘‘24 hours 

15 or, in the case of a conference report containing a district16 oriented earmark or limited tax benefit, until 3 days 

17 after’’. 

18 SEC. 6. FULL AND OPEN DEBATE IN CONFERENCE. 

19 (a) NUMBERED AMENDMENTS.—Clause 1 of rule 

20 XXII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 

21 amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 

22 ‘‘A motion to request or agree to a conference on a general 

23 appropriation bill is in order only if the Senate expresses 

24 its disagreements with the House in the form of numbered 

25 amendments.’’. 
12 

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1 (b) PROMOTING OPENNESS IN DELIBERATIONS OF

2 MANAGERS.—Clause 12(a) of rule XXII of the Rules of 

3 the House of Representatives is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following new subparagraph: 

5 ‘‘(3) All provisions on which the two Houses disagree 

6 shall be open to discussion at any meeting of a conference 

7 committee. The text which reflects the conferees’ action 

8 on all of the differences between the two Houses, including 

9 all matter to be included in the conference report and any 

10 amendments in disagreement, shall be available to any of 

11 the managers at at least one such meeting, and shall be 

12 approved by a recorded vote of a majority of the House 

13 managers. Such text and, with respect to such vote, the 

14 total number of votes cast for and against, and the names 

15 of members voting for and against, shall be included in 

16 the joint explanatory statement of managers accom17 panying the conference report of such conference com18 mittee.’’. 

19 (c) POINT OF ORDER AGAINST CONSIDERATION OF

20 CONFERENCE REPORT NOT REFLECTING RESOLUTION

21 OF DIFFERENCES AS APPROVED.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Rule XXII of the Rules of 

23 the House of Representatives is amended by adding 

24 at the end the following new clause: 
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1 ‘‘13. It shall not be in order to consider a conference 

2 report the text of which differs in any material way from 

3 the text which reflects the conferees’ action on all of the 

4 differences between the two Houses, as approved by a re5 corded vote of a majority of the House managers as re6 quired under clause 12(a).’’. 

7 (2) PROHIBITING WAIVER.—Clause 6(c)(6) of 

8 rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representa9 tives, as added by section 3(c)(3), is further amend10 ed by striking ‘‘clause 12(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘clause 

11 12(a) or clause 13’’. 

12 SEC. 7. REIMBURSEMENT AND DISCLOSURE OF NON13 COMMERCIAL TRAVEL. 

14 (a) MARKET VALUE.—Clause 5(a)(3) of rule XXV of 

15 the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 

16 inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(A)’’ and by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(ii) Market value for a flight on an airplane 

19 that is not licensed by the Federal Aviation Adminis20 tration to operate for compensation or hire, taken in 

21 connection with the official duties of a Member, Del22 egate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee, 

23 shall be the fair market value of a charter flight. 

24 The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct 
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1 shall make public information received under this 

2 item as soon as possible after it is received.’’. 

3 (b) DISCLOSURE.—Clause 5 of rule XXV of the Rules 

4 of the House of Representatives is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(g) A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, 

7 officer, or employee of the House who takes a flight de8 scribed in paragraph (a)(3)(A)(ii) shall, with respect to 

9 the flight, cause to be published in the Congressional 

10 Record within 10 days after the flight— 

11 ‘‘(1) the name of the owner or lessee of the air12 craft; 

13 ‘‘(2) the date of the flight; 

14 ‘‘(3) the destination of the flight; 

15 ‘‘(4) who else was on the flight, other than 

16 those operating the plane; 

17 ‘‘(5) the purpose of the trip; and 

18 ‘‘(6) the reason that a commercial airline was 

19 not used.’’. 

Æ