IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1360 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to guarantee reasonable 
time prior to the consideration of legislation. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 13, 2010 
Mr. KRATOVIL submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Rules 
RESOLUTION 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to 
guarantee reasonable time prior to the consideration of 
legislation. 
Resolved, 
SECTION 1. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this resolution is to— 
(1) allow for a careful study of the facts and 
potential impacts of legislative actions; 
(2) restore public trust in elected representa-
tives and the legislative process; 
(3) foster bipartisanship; 
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(4) improve the quality of legislation by ena-
bling the close scrutiny of issues that the gravity of 
our Nation’s challenges require and deserve; and 
(5) fulfill the promise of our Republic by pro-
viding the opportunities and time for public partici-
pation that empowers Members of Congress to rep-
resent their constituents as effectively as possible; 
by amending the Rules of the House of Representatives 
to improve Americans’ representation in their Government 
and the legislative process. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO RULE XIII REGARDING AVAIL-
ABILITY OF MEASURES, MATTERS, AND RE-
PORTS. 
(a) Clause 4 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives is amended— 
(1) in its side heading, by inserting ‘‘meas-
ures, matters, and’’ before ‘‘reports’’; 
(2) in paragraph (a), by amending subpara-
graph (1) to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) It shall not be in order to consider in the House 
a measure or matter until 72 (excluding Saturdays, Sun-
days, and holidays, except for those hours when the House 
is in session on such a day) hours after the legislation, 
report, measure, or matter has been available on the Li-
brary of Congress website, www.thomas.gov (and, if the 
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measure or matter is reported by one or more committees, 
the text of all accompanying reports) has been made avail-
able pursuant to subparagraph (2) to Members, Delegates, 
the Resident Commissioner, and the public.’’; and 
(3) by amending subparagraph (2) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(2) The full text of the measure or matter and each 
committee report thereon shall be posted continuously on 
the Library of Congress website, www.thomas.gov, in such 
a manner that they are accessible using existing tech-
nology, anonymously and at no cost to the public, in a 
format that is searchable by text.’’. 
(b) Rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Represent-
atives is further amended— 
(1) in clause 5(b), by striking ‘‘and the Resi-
dent Commissioner’’ and inserting ‘‘the Resident 
Commissioner, and the public’’; 
(2) in clause 6(a), by striking ‘‘may not be 
called up for consideration on the same day it is pre-
sented to the House’’ and inserting ‘‘may not be 
called up in the first 72 hours after is it presented 
to the House’’; and 
(3) in clause 6(c), by inserting before the period 
‘‘; or a rule or order proposing a waiver of clause 
4(a) of this rule or of clause 8(a) or 8(b) of rule 
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XXII, unless a question of consideration of the rule 
is adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the Members 
voting, a quorum being present’’. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO RULE XXII REGARDING AVAIL-
ABILITY OF CONFERENCE REPORTS AND 
AMENDMENTS 
REPORTED 
IN 
DISAGREE-
MENT. 
Clause 8 of rule XXII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended— 
(1) by striking paragraph (a) and inserting the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(a)(1) It shall not be in order to consider a con-
ference report until 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sun-
days and holidays except when the House is in session on 
such a day) after the conference report and the accom-
panying joint explanatory statement have been available 
to Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and 
the public pursuant to subparagraph (2). The preceding 
sentence may be waived or suspended only by the affirma-
tive vote of two-thirds of the Members, a quorum being 
present. 
‘‘(2) Without further amendment before floor consid-
eration, the full texts of the conference report and the ac-
companying signed joint explanatory statement shall be 
posted continuously on the Library of Congress website, 
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www.thomas.gov, in such a manner that they are acces-
sible using existing technology, anonymously and at no 
cost to the public, in a format that can be searched by 
text.’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (b), by striking subparagraphs 
(1) and (2) and inserting the following new subpara-
graphs: 
‘‘(1) It shall not be in order to consider a motion to 
dispose of a Senate amendment reported in disagreement 
by a conference committee until at least 72 hours (exclud-
ing Saturdays, Sundays and holidays except when the 
House is in session on such a day) after the report in dis-
agreement and any accompanying statement have been 
available to Members, Delegates, the Resident Commis-
sioner, and the public pursuant to subparagraph (2). The 
preceding sentence may be waived or suspended only by 
the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members, a 
quorum being present. 
‘‘(2) Without further amendment before floor consid-
eration, the full texts of a Senate amendment reported in 
disagreement and any accompanying statement shall be 
posted continuously on the Library of Congress website, 
www.thomas.gov, in such a manner that they are acces-
sible using existing technology, anonymously and at no 
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cost to the public, in a format that can be searched by 
text.’’. 
SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO RULE XIX REGARDING AVAIL-
ABILITY OF MOTIONS TO RECOMMIT. 
Clause 2(a) of rule XIX of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives is amended by adding at the end the 
following new sentences: ‘‘When a motion to recommit is 
offered, the Chair shall put the question in the form ‘Shall 
the House now consider the motion?’. If the question is 
agreed to, then the House shall proceed to consideration. 
If the question is not agreed to, the Chair shall postpone 
further consideration of the motion in the House for 2 
hours, and the text of any such motion to recommit shall 
be available on the Internet website of the Committee on 
Rules to Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, 
and the public during such 2-hour period.’’. 
SEC. 5. AVAILABILITY OF AMENDMENTS. 
Rule XVI of the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives is amended by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘Availability of amendments 
‘‘9.(a) It shall not be in order to consider any amend-
ment to any bill or resolution unless the full text of the 
amendment has been posted for 24 hours continuously on 
the Library of Congress website, www.thomas.gov, in such 
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a manner that it is accessible using existing technology, 
anonymously and at no cost to the public, in a format that 
can be searched by text. 
‘‘(b) Paragraph (a) may be waived by the affirmative 
vote of two-thirds of the Members, a quorum being 
present.’’. 
SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF LEGISLATION AND AMENDMENTS 
IN COMMITTEES AND SUBCOMMITTEES. 
Clause 2 of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(q)(1) It shall not be in order in any committee, or 
a subcommittee thereof, to consider any bill or resolution 
until 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holi-
days, except for those hours when the House is in session 
on such a day) after the text of such bill or resolution 
has been made available to its Members, Delegates, the 
Resident Commissioner, and the public on the Library of 
Congress website, www.thomas.gov, in such a manner that 
the bill or resolution is accessible using existing tech-
nology, anonymously and at no cost to the public, in a 
format that is searchable by text. 
‘‘(2) Subparagraph (1) may be waived by the affirma-
tive vote of two-thirds of the Members, a quorum being 
present. 
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‘‘(3) Clause 9 of rule XVI (relating to the availability 
of amendments) is applicable to the consideration of 
amendments in any committee or subcommittee thereof.’’. 
Æ 
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