IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 484 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to strengthen the budget 
process. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 12, 2007 
Mr. SHULER (for himself, Mr. CHANDLER, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. BARROW, Mr. 
CARDOZA, Mr. COOPER, Mr. COSTA, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. MOORE of 
Kansas, Mr. ROSS, Mr. TANNER, Mr. TAYLOR, Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN, 
Mr. WILSON of Ohio, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. MELANCON, Mr. 
BOYD of Florida, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. HILL, Mr. ELLS-
WORTH, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. PATRICK J. MUR-
PHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BERRY, Mr. LINCOLN DAVIS of Tennessee, and 
Mr. MAHONEY of Florida) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Rules 
RESOLUTION 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to 
strengthen the budget process. 
Resolved, That (a) the last sentence of clause 7(e) of 
rule XXII of Rules of the House of Representatives is 
amended by inserting ‘‘and shall contain, where prac-
ticable, the estimate of costs described in section 
308(a)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974’’ be-
fore the period. 
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•HRES 484 IH 
(b) Clause 7 of rule XXII of Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(f) It shall not be in order to consider a conference 
report unless it contains an estimate of costs as described 
in the last sentence of paragraph (e).’’. 
ROLL CALL VOTES REQUIRED FOR NEW SPENDING OVER 
$50,000,000 
SEC. 2. Clause 10 of rule XX of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives is amended by inserting ‘‘au-
thorizing or providing new budget authority of not less 
than $50,000,000’’ before ‘‘making general appropria-
tions’’ and by adding at the end the following new sen-
tence: ‘‘The Speaker may not entertain a unanimous con-
sent request or motion to suspend this clause.’’. 
SEARCHABLE EARMARKS LIST REQUIREMENT 
SEC. 3. Clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives is amended as follows: 
(1) in paragraph (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘, which 
shall be made available on the Internet in a search-
able format to the general public for at least 48 
hours before consideration,’’ after ‘‘a list’’; 
(2) in paragraph (a)(2), by inserting ‘‘, which 
shall be made available on the Internet in a search-
able format to the general public for at least 48 
hours before consideration,’’ after ‘‘a list’’; and 
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•HRES 484 IH 
(3) in paragraph (a)(4), by inserting ‘‘, which 
shall be made available on the Internet in a search-
able format to the general public for at least 48 
hours before consideration,’’ after ‘‘a list’’. 
SAME-DAY CONSIDERATION OF RULES COMMITTEE 
REPORTS 
SEC. 4. In rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, clause 6(a) is amended by striking ‘‘the 
same day’’ and inserting ‘‘the same calendar day or less 
than 17 hours after that’’. 
TWO-THIRDS REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN WAIVERS 
UNDER THE RULES 
SEC. 5. (a) TWO-THIRDS REQUIREMENT.—Clause 
6(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives is amended by striking the period and inserting a 
semicolon at the end of subparagraph (2) and by adding 
at the end the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(3) a rule or order which would waive the lay-
over requirement of clause 8 of rule XXII con-
cerning the availability of reports, would waive the 
three-day layover requirement or the three-day 
Internet availability requirement of clause 4(a)(1) of 
this rule or of clause 8(a)(1) of rule XXII, or would 
waive the scope requirement of the last sentence of 
clause 9 of rule XXII by a vote of less than two- 
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•HRES 484 IH 
thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being 
present.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Clause 6(a) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is 
amended by striking subparagraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 
after the semicolon at the end of subparagraph (1), and 
by redesignating subparagraph (3) as subparagraph (2). 
TWO-THIRDS REQUIREMENT FOR AVAILABILITY OF 
CERTAIN MEASURES ON THE INTERNET 
SEC. 6. (a) Clause 4(a)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives is amended by inserting 
‘‘and until the third such calendar day on which the un-
derlying measure or matter has been made available by 
the Committee on Rules on its Internet site’’ before the 
period. 
(b) Clause 8(a)(1)(A) of rule XXII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives is amended by inserting 
‘‘and until the third such calendar day on which such con-
ference report and joint explanatory statement have been 
made available by the standing committee of the House 
with subject matter jurisdiction over the underlying legis-
lation on its Internet site’’ before the semicolon. 
WRITTEN JUSTIFICATION FOR EARMARKS 
SEC. 7. Clause 2 of rule XXI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
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‘‘(g) The report that accompanies any general appro-
priation bill shall contain a separate written justification 
for each earmark contained in such bill or report.’’. 
MANDATORY OVERSIGHT 
SEC. 8. Clause 2(d) of rule X of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(3) Not later than July 1 in the first session of a 
Congress, and at six-month intervals thereafter during 
that Congress, each committee shall submit reports to the 
Speaker and the minority leader respecting the commit-
tee’s compliance with its oversight plan. Committees shall 
make these reports available to the public.’’. 
Æ 
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