IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 674 

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to require parity and 

transparency in the earmark process. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2006 

Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on Government Reform, 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 

require parity and transparency in the earmark process. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. PARITY IN THE EARMARK PROCESS. 

3 Rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representa4 tives is amended by adding at the end the following new 

5 clause: 

6 ‘‘7. (a) Before any subcommittee of the Committee 

7 on Appropriations may report any general appropriation 

8 bill to the full committee, it shall— 
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1 ‘‘(1) submit a report to the House setting forth 

2 the total amount of funds that shall be available for 

3 funding recommendations and project requests from 

4 all Members for such bill; and 

5 ‘‘(2) divide such total amount by the total num6 ber of Members, allocate that subdivided amount for 

7 funding recommendations and project requests for 

8 each congressional district from the Member rep9 resenting that district, and indicate that subdivided 

10 amount in the report. 

11 ‘‘(b)(1) Whenever any Member requests less funding 

12 for his district than the amount referred to in paragraph 

13 (a)(2) or fails to request any such funding of any such 

14 subcommittee, then the suballocation made to that sub15 committee under section 302(b) of the Congressional 

16 Budget Act of 1974 for the applicable fiscal year shall be 

17 automatically reduced by the amount of such shortfall and 

18 shall not be available for reallocation pursuant to section 

19 302(e) of such Act. 

20 ‘‘(2) The chairman of each subcommittee of the Com21 mittee on Appropriations shall promptly notify the Com22 mittee on the Budget of the aggregate amount of the 

23 shortfall for the general appropriation bill within that sub24 committee’s jurisdiction that causes any automatic down-
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1 ward adjustment of the applicable section 302(b) sub2 allocation. 

3 ‘‘(c) As used in this clause, the term ‘Member’ refers 

4 to any Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis5 sioner to, the Congress.’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSPARENCY IN THE EARMARK PROCESS. 

7 (a) PROHIBITION ON OBLIGATION OF FUNDS FOR

8 APPROPRIATIONS EARMARKS INCLUDED ONLY IN CON9 GRESSIONAL REPORTS.—(1) No Federal agency may obli10 gate any funds made available in an appropriation Act to 

11 implement an earmark that is included in a congressional 

12 report accompanying the appropriation Act, unless the 

13 earmark is also included in the appropriation Act. 

14 (2) For purposes of this section: 

15 (A) The term ‘‘assistance’’ includes a grant, 

16 loan, loan guarantee, or contract. 

17 (B) The term ‘‘congressional report’’ means a 

18 report of the Committee on Appropriations of the 

19 House of Representatives or the Senate, or a joint 

20 explanatory statement of a committee of conference. 

21 (C) The term ‘‘earmark’’ means a provision 

22 that specifies the identity of an entity to receive as23 sistance and the amount of the assistance. 

24 (D) The term ‘‘entity’’ includes a State or local25 ity, but does not include any Federal agency. 
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1 (3) This subsection shall apply to appropriation Acts 

2 enacted after December 31, 2005. 

3 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF EARMARKS.—Rule XXI of 

4 the Rules of the House of Representatives (as amended 

5 by section 1) is further amended by adding at the end 

6 the following new clause: 

7 ‘‘8. For each earmark set forth in any general appro8 priation bill, the accompanying report shall disclose the 

9 name and district of the Member, Delegate, or Resident 

10 Commissioner sponsoring requesting earmark.’’. 

11 (c) PROHIBITING WAIVER OF GERMANENESS RE12 QUIREMENT FOR CONFERENCE REPORTS.—(1) Rule 

13 XXII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 

14 amended by adding at the end the following new clause: 

15 ‘‘13. (a) A report by the Committee on Rules on a 

16 rule or order that would waive clause 10(a)(1)(A) may not 

17 be called up for consideration over the objection of any 

18 Member, except when so determined by a vote of three19 fifths of the Members voting, a quorum being present. 

20 ‘‘(b) A question of consideration under this clause 

21 shall be debatable for 20 minutes equally divided by a pro22 ponent of the question and an opponent. 

23 ‘‘(c) This clause is intended to admit the question of 

24 consideration not only in the case of a special rule that 

25 explicitly waives clause 10(a)(1)(A) but also in the case 
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1 of a special rule that waives all (or unspecified) points of 

2 order.’’. 

3 (2) Clause 6(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

4 of Representatives is amended— 

5 (A) by striking the period at the end of sub6 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

7 (B) by adding at the end the following new sub8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(3) a rule or order proposing a waiver of 

10 clause 13 of rule XXII.’’. 

Æ