IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 276 

To provide earmark reform in the House of Representatives. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 23, 2009 

Mr. NUNES submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on Standards of 

Official Conduct, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

To provide earmark reform in the House of Representatives. 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. Clause 3 of rule XII is amended by in3 serting ‘‘(a)’’ after ‘‘3.’’ and by adding at the end the fol4 lowing new paragraphs: 

5 ‘‘(b) With respect to any request for a congressional 

6 earmark, limited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit with7 in the meaning of clause 9 of rule XXI, the Member, Dele8 gate, or Resident Commissioner making such request shall 

9 submit a petition to the Speaker under this clause requestVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:47 Mar 24, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR276.IH HR276

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1 ing that congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, or lim2 ited tariff benefit. That petition shall include— 

3 ‘‘(1) the name of the Member, Delegate, or 

4 Resident Commissioner; 

5 ‘‘(2) in the case of a congressional earmark, the 

6 name and address of the intended recipient or, if 

7 there is no specifically intended recipient, the in8 tended location of the activity; 

9 ‘‘(3) in the case of a limited tax or tariff ben10 efit, identification of the individual or entities rea11 sonably anticipated to benefit, to the extent known 

12 to the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner; 

13 ‘‘(4) the purpose of such congressional earmark 

14 or limited tax or tariff benefit; 

15 ‘‘(5) any legislative or report language nec16 essary to execute the congressional earmark, limited 

17 tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit, if applicable; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(6) a certification that the Member, Delegate, 

20 or Resident Commissioner or spouse has no financial 

21 interest in such congressional earmark or limited tax 

22 or tariff benefit. 

23 Any petition submitted pursuant to this paragraph shall 

24 be referred to the appropriate committees of jurisdiction. 

25 A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may not 


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1 submit more than 10 petitions under this paragraph dur2 ing any session of Congress. 

3 ‘‘(c) Within two calendar days after the referral of 

4 a petition pursuant to paragraph (b), the Clerk shall make 

5 the full text of such petition available in a searchable, sort6 able, and downloadable online database available to the 

7 public, unless the subject of the petition relates to classi8 fied information.’’. 

9 SEC. 2. Clause 9 of rule XXI is amended to read as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘9. (a) It shall not be in order to consider— 

12 ‘‘(1) a bill or joint resolution reported by a 

13 committee unless the report includes a list of con14 gressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, and lim15 ited tariff benefits in the bill or in the report (and 

16 the name of any Member, Delegate, or Resident 

17 Commissioner who submitted a request to the com18 mittee for each respective item included in such list) 

19 or a statement that the proposition contains no con20 gressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited 

21 tariff benefits; 

22 ‘‘(2) a bill or joint resolution not reported by a 

23 committee unless the chairman of each committee of 

24 initial referral has caused a list of congressional ear25 marks, limited tax benefits, and limited tariff beneVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:47 Mar 24, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR276.IH HR276

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1 fits in the bill (and the name of any Member, Dele2 gate, or Resident Commissioner who submitted a re3 quest to the committee for each respective item in4 cluded in such list) or a statement that the propo5 sition contains no congressional earmarks, limited 

6 tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits to be printed 

7 in the Congressional Record prior to its consider8 ation; 

9 ‘‘(3) an amendment to a bill or joint resolution 

10 as designated in a report of the Committee on Rules 

11 to accompany a resolution prescribing a special 

12 order of business unless the proponent has caused a 

13 list of congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, 

14 and limited tariff benefits in the amendment (and 

15 the name of any Member, Delegate, or Resident 

16 Commissioner who submitted a request to the pro17 ponent for each respective item included in such list) 

18 or a statement that the proposition contains no con19 gressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited 

20 tariff benefits to be printed in the Congressional 

21 Record prior to its consideration; 

22 ‘‘(4) a conference report to accompany a bill or 

23 joint resolution unless the joint explanatory state24 ment prepared by the managers on the part of the 

25 House and the managers on the part of the Senate 


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1 includes a list of congressional earmarks, limited tax 

2 benefits, and limited tariff benefits in the conference 

3 report or joint statement (and the name of any 

4 Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or Sen5 ator who submitted a request to the House or Sen6 ate committees of jurisdiction for each respective 

7 item included in such list) or a statement that the 

8 proposition contains no congressional earmarks, lim9 ited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits; or 

10 ‘‘(5) any measure or matter (including any ac11 companying report or joint statement) described in 

12 this paragraph, or any amendment thereto which 

13 contains— 

14 ‘‘(A) a congressional earmark, limited tax 

15 benefit, or limited tariff benefit which was not 

16 the subject of a petition submitted to the 

17 Speaker and made available by the Clerk pursu18 ant to clause 3 of rule XII at least 5 legislative 

19 days prior to the request for such earmark, lim20 ited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit; 

21 ‘‘(B) more than two congressional ear22 marks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff 

23 benefits proposed by any Member, Delegate, or 

24 Resident Commissioner; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) total new budget authority, credit au2 thority, and other spending authority for all 

3 congressional earmarks contained in that meas4 ure (including any accompanying report or joint 

5 statement) proposed by members of each com6 mittee of initial referral of such measure that 

7 exceeds 200 percent of the total new budget au8 thority, credit authority, and other spending au9 thority as estimated by the Committee on the 

10 Budget for all earmarks contained in that 

11 measure (including any accompanying report or 

12 joint statement) proposed by nonmembers of 

13 those committees. 

14 ‘‘(b) It shall not be in order to consider a rule or 

15 order that waives the application of paragraph (a). As dis16 position of a point of order under this paragraph, the 

17 Chair shall put the question of consideration with respect 

18 to the rule or order that waives the application of para19 graph (a). The question of consideration shall be debatable 

20 for 10 minutes by the Member initiating the point of order 

21 and for 10 minutes by an opponent, but shall otherwise 

22 be decided without intervening motion except one that the 

23 House adjourn. 

24 ‘‘(c) In order to be cognizable by the Chair, a point 

25 of order raised under paragraphs (a)(1) through (4) may 


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1 be based only on the failure of a report, submission to 

2 the Congressional Record, or joint explanatory statement 

3 to include a list required by paragraph (a) or a statement 

4 that the proposition contains no congressional earmarks, 

5 limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits except with 

6 respect to a conference report to accompany a regular gen7 eral appropriation bill, in which case the point of order 

8 shall be disposed of by the question of consideration under 

9 the same terms as specified in paragraph (b). 

10 ‘‘(d) For the purpose of this clause— 

11 ‘‘(1) the term ‘congressional earmark’ means a 

12 provision or report language included primarily at 

13 the request of a Member, Delegate, Resident Com14 missioner, or Senator providing, authorizing or rec15 ommending a specific amount of discretionary budg16 et authority, credit authority, or other spending au17 thority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, 

18 loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an 

19 entity, or targeted to a specific State, locality or 

20 Congressional district, other than through a statu21 tory or administrative formula-driven or competitive 

22 award process, but such term does not include a 

23 Presidential earmark as defined by this clause; 

24 ‘‘(2) the term ‘limited tax benefit’ means— 

25 ‘‘(A) any revenue-losing provision that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) provides a Federal tax deduction, 

2 credit, exclusion, or preference to 10 or 

3 fewer beneficiaries under the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) contains eligibility criteria that 

6 are not uniform in application with respect 

7 to potential beneficiaries of such provision; 

8 or 

9 ‘‘(B) any Federal tax provision which pro10 vides one beneficiary temporary or permanent 

11 transition relief from a change to the Internal 

12 Revenue Code of 1986; 

13 ‘‘(3) the term ‘limited tariff benefit’ means a 

14 provision modifying the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 

15 of the United States in a manner that benefits 10 

16 or fewer entities; and 

17 ‘‘(4) the term ‘Presidential earmark’ means any 

18 provision or report language to maintain or increase 

19 the funding for any budgeted program, project, or 

20 activity or any provision or report language for any 

21 program, project, or activity that is specifically au22 thorized by law, included in the most recent budget 

23 submission of the President under section 1105(a) 

24 of title 31, United States Code, or jointly certified, 


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1 in writing, by the Speaker and the minority leader 

2 to be for national security purposes.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. Clause 17 of rule XXIII is amended to read 

4 as follows: 

5 ‘‘17. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner 

6 may not request a congressional earmark, limited tax ben7 efit, or limited tariff benefit unless that Member, Dele8 gate, or Resident Commissioner has first submitted a peti9 tion to the House pursuant to clause 3(b) of rule XII.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. The amendments made by this resolution 

11 shall take effect at the beginning of the second session 

12 of Congress. 

Æ 


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