I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6085 
To amend section 40 of the Revised Statutes of the United States to clarify 
that for purposes of determining whether a Member of the House of 
Representatives is subject to a deduction in pay by reason of absence 
from the House on a day, the Member shall be considered to be absent 
if the Member misses any vote held in the House on that day, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 9, 2012 
Mr. BOUSTANY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration 
A BILL 
To amend section 40 of the Revised Statutes of the United 
States to clarify that for purposes of determining wheth-
er a Member of the House of Representatives is subject 
to a deduction in pay by reason of absence from the 
House on a day, the Member shall be considered to 
be absent if the Member misses any vote held in the 
House on that day, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
20:44 Jul 12, 2012
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6085.IH
H6085
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SECTION 1. DETERMINATION OF ABSENCE OF MEMBERS 
FROM HOUSE FOR PURPOSES OF DEDUC-
TIONS FROM PAY. 
(a) ABSENCE BASED ON MISSING VOTES.—Section 
40 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 
39) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘or Delegate’’ the first place it 
appears and inserting ‘‘(including a Delegate or 
Resident Commissioner to the Congress)’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘or Delegate’’ the second place 
it appears; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sen-
tence: ‘‘For purposes of the previous sentence, a 
Member shall be considered to be absent from the 
House on a day if the Member does not cast a vote 
on any vote taken in the House (including any vote 
taken in the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union) on that day.’’. 
(b) CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING EXCUSABLE AB-
SENCES.—Section 40 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States (2 U.S.C. 39), as amended by subsection 
(a)(2), is amended by striking ‘‘unless such Member as-
signs as the reason for such absence the sickness of him-
self or of some member of his family’’ and inserting the 
following: ‘‘unless such Member submits a written notice 
to the Speaker that the reason for such absence is the 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
20:44 Jul 12, 2012
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6085.IH
H6085
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
sickness of the Member or of some member of the Mem-
ber’s family’’. 
(c) PUBLICATION OF LIST OF MEMBERS SUBMIT-
TING REQUESTS FOR EXCUSABLE ABSENCES AND MEM-
BERS SUBJECT TO DEDUCTION FROM PAY.—Section 40 
of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 
39) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘The Chief’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 
DEDUCTIONS FROM PAY.—The Chief’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(b) PUBLICATION
OF LIST
OF MEMBERS.—Not 
later than 5 days after the end of each month (excluding 
Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays), the Chief 
Administrative Officer shall publish on the official public 
Internet site of the House of Representatives a list show-
ing the following information: 
‘‘(1) Each Member whose pay was subject to 
deduction under subsection (a) for the month, to-
gether with (for each such Member)— 
‘‘(A) the amount of the Member’s pay 
which was deducted during the month and the 
aggregate amount of the Member’s pay which 
was deducted during the session of Congress in-
volved; and 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
20:44 Jul 12, 2012
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6085.IH
H6085
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(B) the number of days for which the 
Member’s pay was subject to deduction during 
the month and the aggregate number of days 
for which the Member’s pay was subject to de-
duction during the session of Congress involved. 
‘‘(2) Each Member who submitted a written no-
tice to the Speaker under subsection (a) during the 
month, together with a copy of the notice.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect January 1, 2013. 
Æ 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
20:44 Jul 12, 2012
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H6085.IH
H6085
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS