IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 975 

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to require that rescission 

bills always be considered under open rules every year, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 28, 2006 

Mr. KING of Iowa (for himself, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. 

FEENEY, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. FLAKE, Mrs. 

JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Ms. FOXX, Mrs. 

CUBIN, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. 

PITTS, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. BURTON of 

Indiana, Mr. TANCREDO, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. PAUL, Mr. COLE of 

Oklahoma, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. AKIN, 

Mr. PEARCE, Mr. TERRY, and Mr. DUNCAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules 

RESOLUTION 

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to 

require that rescission bills always be considered under 

open rules every year, and for other purposes. 

Whereas Federal spending is out of control and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that if current laws 

and policies remained the same, the Federal Government 

will run a deficit of $337 billion in 2006; 

Whereas a rescissions bill, which would cut Federal spending, 

should be brought to the House floor at the beginning of 

every fiscal quarter to give Congress the opportunity to 


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cut and cancel unnecessary, wasteful, and bloated government spending to eliminate the deficit; 

Whereas any Federal appropriations that have not yet been 

spent would be on the table for cuts; 

Whereas the House of Representatives would consider this 

spending slashing bill under an open rule procedure that 

allows any Member of Congress to offer an amendment 

to cut Federal spending and demand a recorded vote to 

hold Congress accountable; 

Whereas in this spending cutting process every single spending item would be up for reconsideration and no Member 

of Congress could make excuses for failing to cut spending because the process would provide a record of their 

actions; 

Whereas the taxpayer money saved through this spending 

cutting process will be returned to the general fund and 

cannot be used for new spending; 

Whereas the process of cutting spending should be open to 

the public, by posting this spending cutting bill and its 

amendments on the Internet, so that Americans can exercise their right to contact their Members of Congress and 

make their views known; and 

Whereas this rescissions spending cutting process will discipline Federal spending and save taxpayer money: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That (a) this resolution may be cited as the 

2 ‘‘Cut the Unnecessary Tab Resolution’’ or the ‘‘CUT Res3 olution’’. 

4 (b) Clause 6(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

5 of Representatives is amended by striking the period and 


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1 inserting ‘‘; or’’ at the end of subparagraph (2) and by 

2 adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(3) a rule or order that would limit any amendment 

4 that would otherwise be in order to a rescission bill.’’. 

5 (c) Clause 4(b) of rule X of the Rules of the House 

6 of Representatives is amended by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after 

7 ‘‘(b)’’, by redesignating subparagraphs (1) through (6) as 

8 subdivisions (A) through (F), respectively, and by adding 

9 at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(2)(A) Whenever a rescission bill passes the House, 

11 the Committee on the Budget shall immediately reduce the 

12 applicable allocations under section 302(a) of the Congres13 sional Budget Act of 1974 by the total amount of reduc14 tions in budget authority and in outlays resulting from 

15 such rescission bill. 

16 ‘‘(B) As used in this subparagraph, the term ‘rescis17 sion bill’ means a bill or joint resolution which only re18 scinds, in whole or in part, budget authority and which 

19 includes only titles corresponding to the most recently en20 acted appropriation bills that continue to include unobli21 gated balances.’’. 

22 (d) Rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Represent23 atives is amended by adding at the end the following new 

24 clause: 


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1 ‘‘8. (a) By February 1, May 1, July 30, and Novem2 ber 11 of each session, the majority leader shall introduce 

3 a rescission bill. If such bill is not introduced by that date, 

4 then whenever a rescission bill is introduced during a ses5 sion on or after that date, a motion to discharge the com6 mittee from its consideration shall be privileged after the 

7 10-legislative day period beginning on that date for the 

8 first 5 such bills. 

9 ‘‘(b) It shall not be in order to offer any amendment 

10 to a rescission bill except an amendment that increases 

11 the amount of budget authority that such bill rescinds. 

12 ‘‘(c) As used in this clause and in clause 6, the term 

13 ‘rescission bill’ has the meaning given such term in clause 

14 4(b)(2)(B) of rule X.’’. 

15 (e) Rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Represent16 atives (as amended by subsection (d)) is further amended 

17 by adding at the end the following new clause: 

18 ‘‘8. (a) It shall not be in order to consider any rescis19 sion bill, or conference report thereon or amendment 

20 thereto, unless— 

21 ‘‘(1) in the case of such bill or conference re22 port thereon, it is made available to Members and 

23 the general public on the Internet for at least 48 

24 hours before its consideration; or 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A) in the case of an amendment to such 

2 rescission bill made in order by a rule, it is made 

3 available to Members and the general public on the 

4 Internet within one hour after the rule is filed; or 

5 ‘‘(B) in the case of an amendment under an 

6 open rule, it is made available to Members and the 

7 general public on the Internet immediately after 

8 being offered; in a format that is searchable and 

9 sortable. 

10 ‘‘(b) No amendment to an amendment to a rescission 

11 bill shall be in order unless germane to the amendment 

12 to which it is offered.’’. 

Æ 


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