III

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 37

To amend the Standing Rules of the Senate.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 26 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 1993

Mr. MITCHELL submitted the following resolution; which was ordered to lie

over, under the rule

RESOLUTION

To amend the Standing Rules of the Senate.

1 Resolved, That rule VIII of the Standing Rules of the

2 Senate is amended by striking the ‘‘.’’ at the end of para3 graph 2 and inserting the following: ‘‘; except those mo4 tions to proceed made by the Majority Leader, or his des5 ignee, on which there shall be a time limitation for debate

6 of two hours equally divided between the Majority and the

7 Minority Leaders, or their designees: Provided, That any

8 motion to proceed, by the Majority Leader, or any other

9 Senator, to any motion, resolution, or proposal to change

10 any of the Standing Rules of the Senate shall be debat11 able.’’.
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1 That rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate

2 is amended by striking the ‘‘.’’ at the end of paragraph

3 3 of section 2 and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

4 ‘‘, such appeals shall require an affirmative vote of three5 fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn—except on

6 a measure or motion to amend the Senate rules, in which

7 case the necessary affirmative vote shall be two-thirds of

8 the Senators present and voting.’’.

9 That rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate

10 is amended by adding at the end of paragraph 3 of section

11 2 the following: ‘‘In the case of a measure that has been

12 reported by a committee that contains recommended com13 mittee amendments, such amendments shall be considered

14 germane.’’.

15 That rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate

16 is amended by striking the ‘‘.’’ after speaks in paragraph

17 3 of section 2 and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

18 ‘‘, with the time consumed by quorum calls being charged

19 to the Senator who requested the call of the quorum.’’.

20 That rule XV of the Standing Rules of the Senate

21 is amended by adding the following:

22 ‘‘6. That whenever the Senate has in its possession

23 a measure that has been passed by both Houses it shall

24 be in order, once the measure has been placed before the

25 Senate, to make one nondivisible motion that contains the
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1 following: to insist on the Senate amendment(s), or dis2 agree to the House amendment(s); to request a conference

3 with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two

4 Houses, or agree to the request of the House for the same;

5 and that the Presiding Officer be authorized to appoint

6 the Senate conferees.’’.

7 That rule XXVIII of the Standing Rules of the Sen8 ate is amended by striking ‘‘and shall be determined with9 out debate.’’ in paragraph 1. and inserting in lieu thereof

10 the following: ‘‘notwithstanding a request for the reading

11 of the conference report, and shall be determined without

12 debate.’’.

13 That rule XV of the Standing Rules of the Senate

14 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new

15 paragraph:

16 ‘‘6. (a) At any time following the second day of con17 sideration of a measure, regardless of its pendency, it shall

18 twice be in order during a calendar day to move that no

19 amendment, other than the reported committee amend20 ments, which is not relevant to the subject matter of the

21 measure or to the subject matter of an amendment pro22 posed by the committee which reported the measure, shall

23 thereafter be in order. The motion shall be privileged and

24 shall be decided after two hours of debate, without any
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1 intervening action, to be equally divided and controlled by

2 the Majority and the Minority leaders or their designees.

3 ‘‘(b) If a motion made under subparagraph (a) is

4 agreed to by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Sen5 ators voting, a quorum being present, no amendment not

6 already agreed to (except amendments proposed by the

7 committee which reported the measure) which is not rel8 evant to the subject matter of the measure, or the subject

9 matter of an amendment proposed by the committee which

10 reported the measure, shall be in order.

11 ‘‘(c) When a motion made under subparagraph (a)

12 has been agreed to as provided in subparagraph (b) with

13 respect to a measure, points of order with respect to ques14 tions of relevancy of amendments shall be decided without

15 debate, except that the Presiding Officer may entertain

16 debate for his own guidance prior to ruling on the point

17 of order. Appeals from the decision of the Presiding Offi18 cer on such points of order shall be decided without de19 bate.

20 ‘‘(d) Whenever an appeal is taken from a decision of

21 the Presiding Officer on the question of relevancy of an

22 amendment, or whenever the Presiding Officer submits

23 the question of relevancy of an amendment to the Senate,

24 the vote necessary to overturn the decision of the Presid25 ing Officer or hold the amendment relevant shall be three-
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1 fifths of the Senators voting, a quorum being present. No

2 amendment proposing sense of the Senate or sense of the

3 Congress language that does not directly relate to the

4 measure or matter before the Senate shall be considered

5 relevant.’’.

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