congressional review and approval after being proposed by
an agency.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to ensure
that before a significant rule takes effect—
(1) Congress is given an adequate opportunity
to review the rule and ensure that it is in accordance
with the intent of Congress in enacting the law
under which the rule is proposed; and
(2) Congress approves the rule in accordance
with the procedures established by this Act.
SEC. 3. REVIEW OF SIGNIFICANT RULES BY CONGRESS.
(a) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL
OF SIGNIFICANT
RULES REQUIRED.—A significant rule shall not take ef-
fect before the date of the enactment of a joint resolution
described in section 4(a) comprised solely of the text of
the significant rule.
(b) REPORTING
AND
REVIEW
OF
SIGNIFICANT
RULES.—(1) Before a proposed significant rule would
take effect as a final rule, the agency proposing the rule
shall submit to each House of Congress a report contain-
ing the following:
(A) A copy of the proposed significant rule.
(B) A concise summary of the proposed signifi-
cant rule, its purpose, and anticipated effects.
(C) A complete copy of any cost-benefit analysis
report that has been prepared by the agency with re-
spect to the proposed significant rule.
(D) An explanation of the specific statutory in-
terpretation under which a rule is proposed, includ-
ing an explanation of—
(i) whether the interpretation is expressly
required by the text of the statute; or
(ii) if the interpretation is not expressly re-
quired by the text of the statute, an explanation
that the interpretation is within the range of
permissible interpretations of the statute as
identified by the agency, and an explanation
why the interpretation selected by the agency is
the agency’s preferred interpretation.
(E) Any other relevant information or require-
ments under any other Act and any relevant Execu-
tive order.
(2) Upon receipt of a report under paragraph (1),
each House of Congress shall provide a copy of the report
to the Chairman and ranking minority party member of
each committee with jurisdiction over the subject matter
of the report.
(c) NO INFERENCE TO BE DRAWN WHERE CON-
GRESS FAILS TO APPROVE.—If Congress fails to enact
a joint resolution approving a proposed significant rule,
no court or agency may infer any intent of Congress from
any action or inaction of Congress with regard to such
rule or any related statute.
SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL PROCEDURE FOR SIG-
NIFICANT RULES.
(a) INTRODUCTION.—The majority leader of each
House of the Congress shall introduce (by request) a joint
resolution comprised solely of the text of a proposed sig-
nificant rule not later than 3 session days in the Senate
or 3 legislative days in the House of Representatives after
the date on which an agency submits a report under sec-
tion 3(b) containing the text of the proposed significant
rule. If the joint resolution is not introduced in either
House as provided in the preceding sentence, then any
Member of that House may introduce the joint resolution.
(b) REFERRAL AND CONSIDERATION.—(1) The joint
resolution shall be referred to the appropriate committee
of the House in which it is introduced. The committee may
report the joint resolution without substantive revision and
with or without recommendation or with an adverse rec-
ommendation, or the committee may vote not to report
the joint resolution. If the committee votes to order the
joint resolution reported, it shall be reported not later than
the end of the period (not to exceed 45 session days in
the Senate or 45 legislative days in the House of Rep-
resentatives) established for consideration of the joint res-
olution by the Speaker of the House of Representatives
or the majority leader of the Senate, as the case may be.
Except in the case of a joint resolution which a committee
votes not to report, a committee failing to report a joint
resolution within such period shall be automatically dis-
charged from consideration of the joint resolution, and it
shall be placed on the appropriate calendar.
(2) A vote on final passage of the joint resolution
shall be taken in that House on or before the close of the
90th session day in the Senate or 90th legislative day in
the House of Representatives after the date of the intro-
duction of the joint resolution in that House.
(3)(A) A motion in the House of Representatives to
proceed to the consideration of a joint resolution under
this section shall be highly privileged and not debatable.
An amendment to the motion shall not be in order, nor
shall it be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which
the motion is agreed to or disagreed to.
(B) Debate in the House of Representatives on a
joint resolution under this section shall be limited to not
more than 4 hours, which shall be divided equally between
those favoring and those opposing the joint resolution. A
motion further to limit debate shall not be debatable. It
shall not be in order to move to recommit a joint resolution
under this section or to move to reconsider the vote by
which the joint resolution is agreed to or disagreed to.
(C) All appeals from the decisions of the chair relat-
ing to the application of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives to the procedure relating to a joint resolution
under this section shall be decided without debate.
(D) Except to the extent specifically provided in the
preceding provisions of this subsection, consideration of a
joint resolution under this section shall be governed by the
Rules of the House of Representatives applicable to other
joint resolutions in similar circumstances.
(4)(A) A motion in the Senate to proceed to the con-
sideration of a joint resolution under this section shall be
privileged and not debatable. An amendment to the motion
shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order to move to
reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or
disagreed to.
(B) Debate in the Senate on a joint resolution under
this section, and all debatable motions and appeals in con-
nection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 10
hours. The time shall be equally divided between, and con-
trolled by, the majority leader and the minority leader or
their designees.
(C) Debate in the Senate on any debatable motion
or appeal in connection with a joint resolution under this
section shall be limited to not more than 1 hour, to be
equally divided between, and controlled by, the mover and
the manager of the joint resolution, except that in the
event the manager of the joint resolution is in favor of
any such motion or appeal, the time in opposition thereto,
shall be controlled by the minority leader or his designee.
Such leaders, or either of them, may, from time under
their control on the passage of a joint resolution, allot ad-
ditional time to any Senator during the consideration of
any debatable motion or appeal.
(D) A motion in the Senate to further limit debate
on a joint resolution under this section is not debatable.
A motion to recommit a joint resolution under this section
is not in order.
(c) AMENDMENTS PROHIBITED.—No amendment to
a joint resolution considered under this section shall be
in order in either the House of Representatives or the Sen-
ate. No motion to suspend the application of this sub-
section shall be in order in either House, nor shall it be
in order in either House for the presiding officer to enter-
tain a request to suspend the application of this subsection
by unanimous consent.