III 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 10 

To improve the debate and consideration of legislative matters and 

nominations in the Senate. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 5, 2011 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. 

DURBIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. 

TESTER, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. WARNER, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. 

COONS, Ms. STABENOW, Mrs. HAGAN, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. CASEY, 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. FRANKEN, and Mr. UDALL of 

Colorado) submitted the following resolution; which was ordered to lie 

over, under the rule 

RESOLUTION 

To improve the debate and consideration of legislative 

matters and nominations in the Senate. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. DEBATE ON MOTIONS TO PROCEED. 

3 Rule VIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 

4 amended by striking paragraph 2 and inserting the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘2. Debate on a motion to proceed to the consider7 ation of any matter, and any debatable motion or appeal 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•SRES 10 IS 

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

2 2 hours, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, 

3 the majority leader and the minority leader or their des4 ignees except for a motion to go into executive session to 

5 consider a specified item of executive business and a mo6 tion to proceed to consider any privileged matter, which 

7 shall not be debatable.’’. 

8 SEC. 2. ELIMINATING SECRET HOLDS. 

9 Rule VIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is 

10 amended by inserting at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘3. No Senator may object on behalf of another Sen12 ator without disclosing the name of that Senator.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. RIGHT TO OFFER AMENDMENTS. 

14 Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of 

15 the Senate is amended by inserting at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘After debate has concluded under this paragraph 

18 but prior to final disposition of the pending matter, the 

19 Majority Leader and the Minority Leader may each offer 

20 not to exceed 3 amendments identified as leadership 

21 amendments if they have been timely filed under this para22 graph and are germane to the matter being amended. De23 bate on a leadership amendment shall be limited to 1 hour 

24 equally divided. A leadership amendment may not be di25 vided.’’. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•SRES 10 IS 

1 SEC. 4. EXTENDED DEBATE. 

2 Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of 

3 the Senate is amended— 

4 (1) by striking the second undesignated para5 graph and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘ ‘Is it the sense of the Senate that the debate 

7 shall be brought to a close?’ And if that question 

8 shall be decided in the affirmative by three-fifths of 

9 the Senators duly chosen and sworn—except on a 

10 measure or motion to amend the Senate rules, in 

11 which case the necessary affirmative vote shall be 

12 two-thirds of the Senators present and voting—then 

13 cloture has been invoked. If that question shall be 

14 decided in the negative the Senate shall enter a pe15 riod of continuous debate on the measure, motion, or 

16 other matter pending before the Senate, or the un17 finished business. A period of continuous debate 

18 shall continue as long as the subject of the cloture 

19 vote is the pending business. During a period of con20 tinuous debate, if a Senator seeks recognition to 

21 speak, that Senator shall be recognized and the Pre22 siding Officer shall not entertain any motion or 

23 quorum calls. If during a period of continuous de24 bate, no Senator seeks recognition, then the Pre25 siding Officer shall note that the period of continVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:40 Jan 06, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR10.IS SR10

tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•SRES 10 IS 

1 uous debate has ended and cloture shall be consid2 ered invoked.’’; and 

3 (2) in the last undesignated paragraph by in4 serting ‘‘or during a period of continuous debate’’ 

5 after ‘‘is invoked’’. 

6 SEC. 5. POSTCLOTURE DEBATE ON NOMINATIONS. 

7 The second undesignated paragraph of paragraph 2 

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

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

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

11 period of time for debate shall be 2 hours.’’. 

Æ 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS