IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 686 

Amending the Rules of the House to restore transparency, accountability, 

and oversight, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2006 

Ms. SLAUGHTER (for herself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, and 

Ms. MATSUI) 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 to restore transparency, 

accountability, and oversight, and for other purposes. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. CHANGES AFFECTING THE SCOPE RULE FOR 

3 CONFERENCE REPORTS. 

4 Clause 9 of rule XXII of the Rules of the House of 

5 Representatives is amended by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ after ‘‘9.’’ 

6 and by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: 

7 ‘‘(b) A rule or order providing for the consideration 

8 of a conference report to the House shall contain an 


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1 itemized list of any provisions in such conference report 

2 that would be in violation of paragraph (a). 

3 ‘‘(c)(1) It shall not be in order to consider a rule or 

4 order that provides for the consideration of a conference 

5 report to the House in violation of paragraph (a). 

6 ‘‘(2) As disposition of a point of order under para7 graph (a), the Chair shall put the question of consider8 ation with respect to the proposition that is the subject 

9 of the point of order. A question of consideration under 

10 this clause shall be debatable for 10 minutes by the Mem11 ber initiating the point of order and for 10 minutes by 

12 an opponent of the point of order, but shall otherwise be 

13 decided without intervening motion except one that the 

14 House adjourn or that the Committee of the Whole rise, 

15 as the case may be. 

16 ‘‘(3) The disposition of the question of consideration 

17 under this clause with respect to a bill or joint resolution 

18 shall be considered also to determine the question of con19 sideration under this clause with respect to an amendment 

20 made in order as original text. 

21 ‘‘(d) A motion proposing only to strike a provision 

22 in a conference report in violation of paragraph (a), if oth23 erwise in order, may be precluded from consideration only 

24 by specific terms of a special order of the House.’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WAIVER OF 3-DAY LAYOVERS AGAINST CON2 FERENCE REPORTS. 

3 Clause 8(a) of rule XXII of the Rules of the House 

4 of Representatives is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(3)(A) It shall not be in order to consider a rule 

7 or order that provides for the waiver of subparagraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(B) As disposition of a point of order under sub9 paragraph (1), the Chair shall put the question of consid10 eration with respect to the proposition that is the subject 

11 of the point of order. A question of consideration under 

12 this clause shall be debatable for 10 minutes by the Mem13 ber initiating the point of order and for 10 minutes by 

14 an opponent of the point of order, but shall otherwise be 

15 decided without intervening motion except one that the 

16 House adjourn or that the Committee of the Whole rise, 

17 as the case may be. 

18 ‘‘(C) The disposition of the question of consideration 

19 under this clause with respect to a bill or joint resolution 

20 shall be considered also to determine the question of con21 sideration under this clause with respect to an amendment 

22 made in order as original text.’’. 

23 SEC. 3. INTEGRITY OF A CONFERENCE. 

24 Clause 8 of rule XXII of the Rules of the House of 

25 Representatives is amended by adding at the end the fol26 lowing new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(f)(1) It shall not be in order to consider a con2 ference report if— 

3 ‘‘(A) it contained a serious violation of clause 

4 9(a); 

5 ‘‘(B) it contained changes (including additions 

6 or deletions) made after the managers had reached 

7 a final agreement; 

8 ‘‘(C) the managers on the part of the House 

9 who are minority party members were not allowed to 

10 fully participate in the conference; or 

11 ‘‘(D) there were any other serious violation of 

12 the Rules of the House in events surrounding the 

13 conference report or any conference committee meet14 ings. 

15 ‘‘(2) A point of order may only be made pursuant 

16 to this paragraph by majority leader or minority leader 

17 of the House.’’. 

18 ‘‘(3)(A) As disposition of a point of order under sub19 paragraph (1), the Chair shall put the question of consid20 eration with respect to the proposition that is the subject 

21 of the point of order. A question of consideration under 

22 this clause shall be debatable for 10 minutes by the Mem23 ber initiating the point of order and for 10 minutes by 

24 an opponent of the point of order, but shall otherwise be 

25 decided without intervening motion except one that the 


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1 House adjourn or that the Committee of the Whole rise, 

2 as the case may be. 

3 ‘‘(B) The disposition of the question of consideration 

4 under this clause with respect to a bill or joint resolution 

5 shall be considered also to determine the question of con6 sideration under this clause with respect to an amendment 

7 made in order as original text.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. ROLL CALL VOTE IN CONFERENCE COMMITTEES 

9 Clause 8 of rule XXII of the Rules of the House of 

10 Representatives (as amended by section 3) is further 

11 amended by adding at the end the following new para12 graph— 

13 ‘‘(g) Each conference report to the House may only 

14 be considered if a roll call vote, in an open meeting, was 

15 held on the final version of the conference report and the 

16 result of such vote was included in the joint explanatory 

17 statement of managers accompanying such conference re18 port.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. FILING OF REPORTS BY THE COMMITTEE ON 

20 RULES. 

21 Clause 6(a) of the Rules of the House of Representa22 tives is amended by striking ’’on the same day’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘within 24 hours of when’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. DISCLOSURE RESPECTING EXTENDED PERIODS OF 

2 TIME FOR VOTING. 

3 Clause 2(a) of rule XX of the House of Representa4 tives is amended by adding at the end the following new 

5 sentences: ‘‘Whenever the maximum time exceeds be 30 

6 minutes, the Speaker shall have published in the Congres7 sional Record for that legislative day a log of all voting 

8 activity occurring after the first 30 minutes of the re9 corded vote. The log shall set forth the names of any Mem10 bers who changed their votes or first voted after such 30- 

11 minute period.’’. 

12 SEC. 7. POST-EMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS FOR MEMBERS. 

13 Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representa14 tives is amended by redesignating clause 14 as clause 15 

15 and by adding after clause 13 the following new clause: 

16 ‘‘14. No Member, Delegate, or Resident Commis17 sioner may negotiate for future employment with any per18 son who has a direct interest in legislation referred to any 

19 committee during this or the preceding Congress while 

20 that Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner serves 

21 on that committee.’’. 

22 SEC. 8. SUSPENSION OF THE RULES. 

23 Clause 1 of rule XV of the Rules of the House of 

24 Representatives is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(d) Any bill or joint resolution that authorizes or 

2 appropriates more than $100,000,000 may not be consid3 ered under suspension. 

4 ‘‘(e) The Speaker shall endeavor to the maximum ex5 tent possible to allow an equal number of bills and resolu6 tions sponsored by majority party members and minority 

7 party members under suspension during any session of 

8 Congress.’’. 

9 SEC. 9. VOTING TO CHANGE THE STATUTORY LIMIT ON THE 

10 DEBT. 

11 The Rules of the House of Representatives are 

12 amended by repealing rule XXVII. 

13 SEC. 10. PRIVILEGED REPORTS BY THE COMMITTEE ON 

14 RULES. 

15 Clause 6(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

16 of Representatives is amended by striking the period at 

17 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’ and by adding at the end 

18 the following new subparagraph: 

19 ‘‘(3) a rule or order unless at least one minority 

20 party member of the committee is allowed to offer 

21 an amendment to the rule or order.’’. 

22 SEC. 11. UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENTS. 

23 Clause 6 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 

24 Representatives is amended by inserting at the end the 

25 following new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(h) Following adoption of an order of business, the 

2 Speaker may not entertain a unanimous consent request 

3 that modifies such order of business unless the text of 

4 such modification has been available to Members, Dele5 gates, and the Resident Commissioner for at least 24 

6 hours.’’. 

Æ 


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