III 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 12 

To amend the Standing Rules of the Senate to reform the filibuster rules 

to improve the daily process of the Senate. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 5, 2011 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Rules and Administration 

RESOLUTION 

To amend the Standing Rules of the Senate to reform the 

filibuster rules to improve the daily process of the Senate. 

Whereas the Senate has operated under the cloture rules for 

many decades; 

Whereas there has been a marked increase in the use of the 

filibuster in recent years; 

Whereas sweeping, monumental legislation affecting economic 

recovery, reform of the healthcare system, reform of the 

financial regulatory system, and many other initiatives all 

were enacted in the 111th Congress after overcoming filibusters; 

Whereas both parties have used the filibuster to prevent the 

passage of controversial legislation and confirmation of 

qualified nominees; 


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•SRES 12 IS 

Whereas the Senate rules regarding cloture serve the legitimate purpose of protecting the rights of the minority; 

Whereas there are many areas where the rules of the Senate 

have been abused, and can make way for changes that 

will improve the daily process of the Senate; and 

Whereas bipartisan cooperation can overcome nearly any obstacle in the United States Senate, changing the Senate 

rules must also be done with bipartisan cooperation: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. CHANGING VOTE THRESHOLD TO PRESENT 

3 AND VOTING. 

4 The second undesignated subparagraph of paragraph 

5 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘duly chosen and sworn’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘present and voting’’. 

8 SEC. 2. MOTIONS TO PROCEED. 

9 Paragraph 2 of rule VIII of the Standing Rules of 

10 the Senate is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘2. Debate on a motion to proceed to the consider12 ation of any matter, and any debatable motion or appeal 

13 in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 

14 4 hours, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, 

15 the majority leader and the minority leader or their des16 ignees except for— 


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1 ‘‘(1) a motion to proceed to a proposal to 

2 change the Standing Rules which shall be debatable; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(2) a motion to go into executive session to 

5 consider a specified item of executive business and 

6 a motion to proceed to consider any privileged mat7 ter which shall not be debatable.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. NO FILIBUSTER AFTER COMPLETE SUBSTITUTE IS 

9 AGREED TO. 

10 Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of 

11 the Senate is amended by inserting at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘If a complete substitute amendment for a measure 

14 is agreed to after consideration under cloture, the Senate 

15 shall proceed to a final disposition of the measure without 

16 intervening action or debate except one quorum call if re17 quested.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. NO FILIBUSTER RELATED TO COMMITTEES ON CON19 FERENCE. 

20 Rule XXVIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 

21 amended by inserting at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘10.(a) Upon the majority leader making a motion 

23 to disagree with a House amendment or amendments or 

24 insist on a Senate amendment or amendments, request a 

25 conference with the House, or agree to the conference reVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:09 Jan 06, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR12.IS SR12

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1 quested by the House on the disagreeing votes of the two 

2 Houses, and that the chair be authorized to appoint con3 ferees on the part of the Senate, debate on the motion, 

4 and any debatable motion or appeal in connection there5 with, shall be limited to not more than 4 hours, to be 

6 equally divided between, and controlled by, the majority 

7 leader and the minority leader or their designees. 

8 ‘‘(b) A motion made by the majority leader pursuant 

9 to subparagraph (a) shall not be divisible and shall not 

10 be subject to amendment.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. TIME PRECLOTURE. 

12 Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of 

13 the Senate is amended— 

14 (1) in the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, 

15 by striking ‘‘one hour after the Senate meets on the 

16 following calendar day but one’’ and inserting ‘‘24 

17 hours after the filing of the motion’’; and 

18 (2) in the third undesignated paragraph, by 

19 striking the second sentence and inserting ‘‘Except 

20 by unanimous consent, no amendment shall be pro21 posed after the vote to bring the debate to a close, 

22 unless it had been submitted in writing to the Jour23 nal Clerk 12 hours following the filing of the cloture 

24 motion if an amendment in the first degree, and un25 less it had been so submitted at least 1 hour prior 


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1 to the beginning of the cloture vote if an amendment 

2 in the second degree.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. DIVISION OF TIME POSTCLOTURE. 

4 The fourth undesignated subparagraph of paragraph 

5 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 

6 amended by inserting ‘‘(to be equally divided between the 

7 majority and the minority)’’ after ‘‘thirty hours of consid8 eration’’. 

9 SEC. 7. ELIMINATING DEBATE TIME POSTCLOTURE ON 

10 NOMINATIONS. 

11 The second undesignated paragraph of paragraph 2 

12 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 

13 amended by inserting at the end the following: ‘‘If the 

14 matter on which cloture is invoked is a nomination, the 

15 Senate shall immediately proceed to vote on final disposi16 tion of the nomination upon invoking cloture on the nomi17 nation under this paragraph.’’. 

18 SEC. 8. ALLOWING COMMITTEES TO MEET WITHOUT CON19 SENT. 

20 Paragraph 5 of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of 

21 the Senate is amended by— 

22 (1) striking subparagraph (a); and 

23 (2) redesignating subparagraphs (b) through 

24 (e) as subparagraphs (a) through (d), respectively. 


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1 SEC. 9. READING OF AMENDMENTS. 

2 Paragraph 1 of rule XV of the Standing Rules of the 

3 Senate is amended by inserting at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(c) The reading of an amendment may be waived 

5 by a nondebatable motion if the amendment has been 

6 printed in the Congressional Record and available for at 

7 least 24 hours before the motion.’’. 

8 SEC. 10. ALLOWING AMENDMENTS WHEN AMENDMENTS 

9 PENDING BY A LIMITED MOTION. 

10 Rule XV of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘6.(a) If an amendment is pending and except as pro13 vided in subparagraph (b), a nondebateable motion shall 

14 be in order to set aside any pending amendments in order 

15 to offer another germane amendment. No Senator shall 

16 offer more than 1 such motion in any calendar day and 

17 the Senate shall consider not more than 5 such motions 

18 in any calendar day. 

19 ‘‘(b)(1) A nondebateable motion shall be in order to 

20 waive the requirement of germaneness under subpara21 graph (a). 

22 ‘‘(2) A waiver motion under this subparagraph shall 

23 require three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn. 

24 ‘‘(c) An affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Sen25 ators duly chosen and sworn shall be required to sustain 


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1 an appeal of a ruling by the chair on a point of order 

2 raised under this paragraph.’’. 

Æ 


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