IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 688 

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to require that legislation and conference reports be available on the Internet for 72 hours 

before consideration by the House, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2006 

Mr. BAIRD submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Rules 

RESOLUTION 

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to 

require that legislation and conference reports be available on the Internet for 72 hours before consideration 

by the House, and for other purposes. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. PURPOSE. 

3 The purpose of this resolution is to: 

4 (1) Modernize the operations of the House of 

5 Representatives using information technology that 

6 has transformed and increased the efficiency of 

7 many aspects of American society such as financial 

8 services and markets, transportation, manufacVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:24 Feb 18, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR688.IH HR688

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1 turing, agriculture, and commerce with consumers 

2 and businesses. 

3 (2) Slow the explosive growth of the 

4 $8,000,000,000,000 national debt of the United 

5 States, reduce excessive annual budget deficits, and 

6 control the size and scope of government by ensuring 

7 that there is adequate scrutiny of proposals for new 

8 and amended laws, taxes, and expenditures. 

9 (3) Enhance public participation in American 

10 democracy and improve the quality of proposed leg11 islation by allowing the opportunity for its review by 

12 State and local government officials, small business 

13 owners, large business leaders, journalists, scientists, 

14 academics, labor leaders, nonprofit organization 

15 leaders, authors of weblogs, and interested citizens. 

16 (4) Help restore public trust in government and 

17 enhance respect for the House of Representatives 

18 and the Congress by ensuring that their operations 

19 are conducted with the openness, order, and dignity 

20 befitting the world’s oldest democracy. 

21 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO RULE XIII REGARDING AVAIL22 ABILITY OF LEGISLATION AND REPORTS. 

23 (a) Clause 4 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

24 of Representatives is amended— 


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1 (1) in its side heading, by inserting ‘‘legislation 

2 and’’ before ‘‘reports’’; 

3 (2) by striking subparagraph (1) and inserting 

4 the following new subparagraph: 

5 ‘‘(1) Except as specified in subparagraph (2), it shall 

6 not be in order to consider in the House a measure or 

7 matter until 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and 

8 holidays except when the House is in session on such a 

9 day) after the text of such measure or matter (and, if the 

10 measure or matter is reported, the text of all accom11 panying reports) have been made available to Members, 

12 Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and the general 

13 public pursuant to subparagraph (3).’’; 

14 (3) by adding at the end of paragraph (a) the 

15 following new subparagraph: 

16 ‘‘(3) Without further amendment during the 72 

17 hours, the full and official text of the measure or matter 

18 and each committee report thereon shall be posted con19 tinuously by means of the Internet in such a manner that 

20 they are conveniently accessible using existing technology, 

21 anonymously and at no cost, in a format that is searchable 

22 by text.’’; and 

23 (4) in paragraph (c), by striking ‘‘the third cal24 endar day’’ and inserting ‘‘at least 72 hours’’ and by 

25 striking ‘‘on’’ and inserting ‘‘after’’. 


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1 (b) Rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Represent2 atives is further amended— 

3 (1) in clause 5(b), by striking ‘‘and the Resi4 dent Commissioner’’ and inserting ‘‘the Resident 

5 Commissioner, and the general public’’; and 

6 (2) in clause 6(c), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end 

7 of subparagraph (1), by striking the period at the 

8 end of subparagraph (2) and inserting a semicolon, 

9 and by adding at the end the following new subpara10 graphs: 

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

12 clause 4(a) of rule XIII or of clause 8(a) or 8(b) of 

13 rule XXII, unless a question of consideration of the 

14 rule is adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the Mem15 bers voting, a quorum being present; or 

16 ‘‘(4) a rule or order proposing a waiver of sub17 paragraph (3), unless a question of consideration of 

18 the rule is adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the 

19 Members voting, a quorum being present.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO RULE XXII REGARDING AVAIL21 ABILITY OF CONFERENCE REPORTS AND 

22 AMENDMENTS REPORTED IN DISAGREE23 MENT. 

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

25 Representatives is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking subparagraph (a) and inserting 

2 the following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(a)(1) It shall not be in order to consider a con4 ference report until 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sun5 days and holidays except when the House is in session on 

6 such a day) after the conference report and the accom7 panying joint explanatory statement have been available 

8 to Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and 

9 the general public pursuant to subparagraph (2). 

10 ‘‘(2) Without further amendment during the 72 

11 hours, the full and official texts of the conference report 

12 and the accompanying signed joint explanatory statement 

13 shall be posted continuously by means of the Internet in 

14 such a manner that they are conveniently accessible using 

15 existing technology, anonymously and at no cost, in a for16 mat that can be searched by text.’’; 

17 (2) in paragraph (b), by striking subparagraphs 

18 (1) and (2) and inserting the following new subpara19 graphs: 

20 ‘‘(1) It shall not be in order to consider a motion to 

21 dispose of a Senate amendment reported in disagreement 

22 by a conference committee until at least 72 hours (exclud23 ing Saturdays, Sundays and holidays except when the 

24 House is in session on such a day) after the report in dis25 agreement and any accompanying statement have been 


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1 available to Members, Delegates, the Resident Commis2 sioner, and the general public pursuant to subparagraph 

3 (2). 

4 ‘‘(2) Without further amendment during the 72 

5 hours, the full and official texts of a Senate amendment 

6 reported in disagreement and any accompanying state7 ment shall be posted continuously by means of the Inter8 net in such a manner that they are conveniently accessible 

9 using existing technology, anonymously and at no cost, in 

10 a format that can be searched by text.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. 

12 Nothing in this resolution or any amendment made 

13 by it shall be interpreted to require or permit the declas14 sification or posting on the Internet of classified informa15 tion in the custody of the House of Representatives. Such 

16 classified information shall be made available to Members 

17 in a timely manner as appropriate under existing laws and 

18 rules. 

19 SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE HOUSE REGARDING AMENDMENTS. 

20 It is the sense of the House that, with the objective 

21 of preventing circumvention of clause 4(a) of rule XIII of 

22 the Rules of the House of Representatives that the Com23 mittee on Rules should develop standardized policies and 

24 procedures to require that proposed amendments (except 

25 those offered under an open rule) that are major in size, 


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1 scope, or cost be posted on the Internet for an appropriate 

2 number of hours. 

Æ 


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