IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 545 

Calling for an end to the abuse of the Standing Rules of the Senate and 

to improve the debate and consideration of legislative matters. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 2, 2015 

Mr. FRANKS of Arizona (for himself, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. 

WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. POSEY, Mr. 

MULVANEY, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. SALMON, Mr. PITTS, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. 

CRAMER, and Mr. SMITH of Texas) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Rules 

RESOLUTION 

Calling for an end to the abuse of the Standing Rules of 

the Senate and to improve the debate and consideration 

of legislative matters. 

Whereas the failure to pass critical, overwhelmingly popular 

legislation in the United States Senate has resulted from 

the current Senate cloture rule and the practices of the 

Senate related to debate; 

Whereas supermajority provisions of the Senate cloture rule 

(paragraphs 2 and 3 of rule XXII), commonly known as 

the Senate filibuster rule, are not contemplated by the 

United States Constitution; 

Whereas the Senate cloture rule and the practices of the Senate related to starting and ending debate have evolved 


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over time, and resulted in the Senate routinely being unable to reach a fair, up or down vote on important matters, even when a majority of the body wishes to do so; 

Whereas in the present day, the Senate has become debilitated by its rules, practices, and the operation of cloture; 

Whereas nearly all legislation today that cannot obtain unanimous consent faces a multistep procedural process gauntlet, before ever having a chance for a ‘‘real’’ up or down 

vote; 

Whereas most significant legislation in the Senate is called 

up and made pending before the Senate only after cloture 

is invoked on a ‘‘motion to proceed to consider’’ it, and 

subsequently, another cloture motion must be filed to end 

debate on the legislation itself, which means most legislation in the Senate is subject to not one, but at least two, 

filibusters; 

Whereas the Senate no longer only filibusters publicly (by 

‘‘holding the floor’’ in a traditional filibuster), but it also 

does so, privately, by Senators noticing with their leadership threats to filibuster, which in effect invokes a secret 

or ‘‘anonymous hold’’ out of sight of the American people; 

Whereas it has become an increasingly common practice for 

Senators to place ‘‘anonymous holds’’ on important business and threaten to filibuster without being required to 

physically and openly do so on the Senate floor; 

Whereas even if a secret hold is resolved, Senate business can 

still be further delayed by a single Senator openly objecting to a request to consider business on the Senate floor 

in addition to other dilatory tactics or subsequent filibuster; 


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Whereas in the early years of the Senate there was no cloture 

rule or the concept of an ‘‘anonymous hold’’, as it conducted legislative business through serious consideration 

and accommodation for all Senators, before putting any 

matter to a vote; 

Whereas delaying legislative matters by use of the traditional 

‘‘hold the floor’’—standing Senate filibuster—and other 

dilatory tactics—were not routinely used during the early 

years, but eventually became common features used by 

Senators to delay or prevent a vote on consequential legislation; 

Whereas in 1917, after a long series of deliberations in the 

Senate by a group of Senators that killed a bill that 

would have allowed President Woodrow Wilson to defend 

against German submarine warfare, in the period leading 

up to United States involvement in World War I, the 

Democrat-controlled Senate adopted the ‘‘Martin Resolution’’, the original cloture rule (paragraph 2 of rule 

XXII), permitting two-thirds of Senators voting (with a 

quorum present) to bring debate to a close and proceed 

to a vote; 

Whereas in the lead-up to the establishment of the rule in 

1917, President Woodrow Wilson responded and in his 

statement said, ‘‘. . . The Senate of the United States 

is the only legislative body in the world which cannot act 

when its majority is ready for action. A little group of 

willful men, representing no opinion but their own, have 

rendered the great Government of the United States 

helpless and contemptible. The remedy? There is but one 

remedy. The only remedy is that the rules of the Senate 

shall be so altered that it can act. The country can be 

relied upon to draw the moral. I believe that the Senate 


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can be relied on to supply the means of action and save 

the country from disaster.’’ (55 Congressional Record 

20); 

Whereas from 1917–1963, totaling a span of 46 years, the 

Senate managed to invoke cloture on only five occasions, 

consequently during such time the Senate filibuster and 

cloture rules were used to prevent the Senate from passing critical bills that pertained to civil rights, such as 

prohibiting lynching and poll taxes; 

Whereas in 1946, the Senate failed to invoke cloture to abolish the poll tax—which maliciously required a tax to be 

paid in order to vote—when a large group of Senate 

Democrats (26), joined by 7 Senate Republicans, opposed 

ending debate; 

Whereas if the cloture rule had a threshold of simple majority 

for those Senators voting and present, the 1946 bill to 

end the poll tax would have been considered for a vote; 

Whereas in 1922, 1935, and 1938, the Senate filibuster was 

used by a group of Southern Senators to defeat antilynching bills that centered on stopping horrific 

extrajudicial executions; 

Whereas in 1949, the Democrat-controlled Senate revised the 

cloture rule, allowing the Senate to invoke cloture on any 

measure or motion only if two-thirds of Senators chosen 

and sworn voted in favor; 

Whereas the 1949 amendment meant that 2⁄3 or 64 Senators 

affirming would be required to invoke cloture, since there 

were a total of 96 Senators; 

Whereas while filibustering to deny rights to minority groups, 

Southern Democrat Senators used the Senate filibuster, 

arguing that it was a tool to protect minority rights; 


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Whereas in 1959, the Democrat Majority Leader, Senator 

Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, sponsored an amendment 

to paragraphs 2 and 3 of rule XXII that reimplemented 

the requirement for two-thirds of Senators voting (with 

a quorum present) to close debate; 

Whereas in 1975, the Democrat-controlled Senate adopted 

the current cloture threshold, lowering the 2⁄3 vote to a 

3⁄5 vote of the full Senate, normally 60, to end debate; 

Whereas in 1976, the Democrat-controlled Senate amended 

the second sentence of the final paragraph of section 2 

of rule XXII that regulated post-cloture consideration of 

amendments; 

Whereas in 1979, the Democrat Majority Leader, Robert C. 

Byrd, secured adoption of an amendment to paragraph 2 

of Senate rule XXII that further regulated post-cloture 

consideration of matters; 

Whereas in 1986, for the first time, the Republican-controlled 

Senate adopted a resolution to govern the public broadcast of the chamber floor proceedings that reduced the 

time permitted for post cloture consideration of a measure or matter from 100 hours to 30 hours; 

Whereas in the 113th Congress, the Democratic-controlled 

Senate used the so-called ‘‘nuclear option’’, voting 52–48, 

with all Republicans and 3 Democrats voting against, to 

reinterpret Senate rule XXII to provide for majority cloture on executive branch and judicial nominees other 

than to the Supreme Court; 

Whereas the 1917 cloture rule adoption, its amendments in 

1949, 1959, 1975, and the new precedent, ‘‘the nuclear 

option’’ in 2013, were engineered by Senate Democrats 

when they held the Senate majority; 


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Whereas in the 114th Congress, the failure to invoke cloture 

and the Senate’s informal practice related to debate have 

stalemated the legislative process, tabling the consideration of critical issues affecting the constitutional and national security of the Nation; 

Whereas this year the failure to invoke cloture has delayed 

measures in the Senate from reaching a fair, up or down 

vote on matters of economic development and job growth, 

securing the United States border, protecting innocent 

life, national security bills, and the most important national security issue of our time, the Iranian Nuclear 

Deal; 

Whereas if the cloture rule had a threshold of a simple majority to start or end debate—51 votes of the total Senate—for those Senators duly sworn and chosen, legislation of the 114th Congress that passed the House of 

Representatives, which is supported by a majority of Congress and an overwhelming majority of the American people, would have reached a final vote in the Senate; 

Whereas the American people are largely unaware of the esoteric practice of requiring the supermajority to allow a 

vote and therefore are unable to ascertain which parties 

or individuals are responsible for the actions or inactions 

of the Senate and consequently accountability becomes 

dramatically reduced; 

Whereas the Senate’s cloture rule and practices related to debate have been the culpable restraints on any significant 

actions by this Congress even when the majority wishes 

to act; 

Whereas the overall effect of the required supermajority for 

cloture is to shield from voter accountability actions or 


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inactions in both the legislative and executive branches of 

Government; 

Whereas the original intent of the adoption of the cloture rule 

in 1917 was to prevent unreasonable delay, today it is 

used to actually create extended or permanent delay; this 

violates the historical and original intent for the rule and 

in fact exacerbates the very problem it was originally intended to address; and 

Whereas the current cloture rule and the Senate’s informal 

and formal practices related to debate have ultimately 

subordinated the Constitution of the United States itself: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That— 

2 (1) it is the sense of the House of Representa3 tives that the Standing Rules of the Senate and de4 bate practices should not be abused for the purpose 

5 of debilitating the Senate and indefinitely blocking 

6 debate or a fair, up or down vote on legislative mat7 ters; 

8 (2) the House of Representatives urges the Sen9 ate to adopt a new precedent that would end the 

10 abuse of the Standing Rules of the Senate and ardu11 ous practices related to debate in order to restore 

12 the daily workings of the Senate, in keeping with ac13 countable debate such as the classic standing and 

14 talking filibuster; 

15 (3) it is the sense of the House of Representa16 tives that after the Senate sets a new precedent to 


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1 restore its workings, the Senate should negotiate 

2 and adopt, under its existing rules of a super3 majority vote to invoke cloture, a parliamentarian 

4 procedure to replace the cloture motion to call up 

5 legislation and make it pending before the Senate, 

6 with a ‘‘non debatable motion to proceed to con7 sider’’ that allows for the minority to offer a reason8 able number of germane amendments, subject to de9 bate, once the measure is pending for consideration; 

10 (4) the House of Representatives further en11 courages the Senate to forbid threats of a filibuster 

12 derived from an ‘‘anonymous hold’’, and in its place 

13 reinvigorate the ‘‘traditional standing filibuster’’ or 

14 ‘‘hold the floor’’ mechanism of dissent, with a time 

15 allocation of up to 100 hours and the ability to trun16 cate debate only by a petition of 60 Senators; 

17 (5) it is the sense of the House of Representa18 tives that the proposed number of germane amend19 ments and debate hours and mechanism to truncate 

20 debate described in paragraphs (3) and (4), respec21 tively, could be decreased or increased at the time 

22 that the rule change is negotiated and adopted, en23 suring the appropriate center between sufficient ad24 versarial debate and the prevention of chronic staleVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 Dec 03, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR545.IH HR545

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1 mate is both a Senate majority and minority deter2 mination; 

3 (6) the House of Representatives believes that 

4 these proposed changes to the Standing Rules of the 

5 Senate and debate practices shall— 

6 (A) reestablish deliberation in the world’s 

7 most deliberative body, as intended by the 

8 United States of America’s founding fathers; 

9 (B) allow the Senate to meet its constitu10 tional responsibilities in a timely fashion and ef11 fectively respond to national needs; 

12 (C) enhance our democratic system and 

13 the attending processes that clearly, specifically 

14 and accurately assign official actions of rep15 resentatives and parties accordingly so that ac16 countability is clearly delineated; and 

17 (D) encompasses a strong incentive to 

18 reach consensus in the Senate and still preserve 

19 the minority’s opportunity to have enhanced ob20 jection and reasonable leverage against any 

21 overreach on the part of the majority or if the 

22 minority feels further debate and clarity on a 

23 given agenda item is particularly important to 

24 the country; and 


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1 (7) it is the sense of the House of Representa2 tives that nothing in this resolution— 

3 (A) shall be construed as the House of 

4 Representatives advocating a wholesale abolish5 ment of a Senate filibuster mechanism or 

6 supermajority cloture requirement; or 

7 (B) shall be construed as the House of 

8 Representatives calling for the classic standing 

9 and talking Senate filibuster to be abolished; on 

10 the contrary, the House believes it should be re11 invigorated. 

Æ 


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