IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 524 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to impose limitations 
respecting certain legislation that affects the economy, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 28, 2005 
Mr. BROWN of Ohio (for himself, Mr. EVANS, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. CONYERS, 
Mr. ROTHMAN, Mrs. MALONEY, and Mr. GRIJALVA) submitted the fol-
lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules 
RESOLUTION 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to 
impose limitations respecting certain legislation that af-
fects the economy, and for other purposes. 
Whereas this resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Social Security 
Protection and Congressional Accountability Rule’’; 
Whereas at 2:54 a.m. on a Friday, by three votes, the House 
of Representatives voted to cut veterans benefits; 
Whereas at 2:39 a.m. on a Friday, by five votes, the House 
approved legislation slashing education and health care; 
Whereas at 1:56 a.m. on a Friday, by 31 votes, the House 
passed tax legislation that overwhelmingly benefited the 
wealthiest corporations and individuals;
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Whereas at 2:33 a.m. on a Friday, by one vote, the House 
passed the Medicare privatization and prescription drug 
bill; 
Whereas at 12:57 a.m. on a Friday, by one vote, the House 
eviscerated Head Start; 
Whereas at 12:12 a.m. on a Friday in October, the House 
voted $87 billion for Iraq; 
Whereas the House has increasingly resorted to considering 
important legislation in the middle of the night, after 
press deadlines have passed, and after the vast majority 
of Americans had gone to bed; 
Whereas though recorded votes in the House are generally 
concluded after fifteen minutes, House leadership has 
held votes open for nearly three hours as Members were 
pressured to support the House leadership’s position; 
Whereas the House voted on a 3,600-page omnibus spending 
bill just 16 hours after it was filed, and unwittingly ap-
proved a provision included in that bill permitting Mem-
bers of Congress to access the tax return of any Amer-
ican; 
Whereas democracy is weakened by secrecy in government 
and practices that conceal from the people the actions of 
their representatives; and 
Whereas the American people are not served by a Congress 
that hides from public scrutiny by acting on important 
legislation in the middle of the night: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That (a) rule XXI of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives is amended by adding at the end the 
following new clause:
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‘‘7. (a) It shall not be in order to consider any major 
legislation until at least 7 calendar days after the following 
3 items have been published in the Congressional Record: 
‘‘(1) The text of the legislation as reported (or 
as introduced if the bill has not been reported). 
‘‘(2) The text of a manager’s amendment, if 
any. 
‘‘(3) The text of any rule or order for the con-
sideration of such legislation or manager’s amend-
ment, as applicable. 
‘‘(b) It shall not be in order to conclude a recorded 
vote on any economically significant legislation or major 
legislation, or amendment thereto or conference report 
thereon, after 10 p.m. or before 9 a.m. 
‘‘(c) It shall not be in order to conclude a recorded 
vote on any major legislation, or amendment thereto or 
conference report thereon, more than 30 minutes after the 
commencement of such recorded vote. 
‘‘(d) As used in this clause, the term ‘major legisla-
tion’ means any bill or joint resolution with an anticipated 
effect of increasing or decreasing outlays or revenues dur-
ing the 5-year period covered by the most recently agreed 
to concurrent resolution on the budget by at least 
$100,000,000.
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‘‘(e) The applicability of any point of order set forth 
in this clause shall be determined on the basis of estimates 
made by the Committee on the Budget. 
‘‘(f) The Speaker may recognize the majority leader 
for the purpose of offering a motion to waive this clause 
on the grounds of national security, homeland security, or 
other emergency. This clause may not be waived unless 
two-thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being present, 
agree to such waiver motion offered by the majority lead-
er.’’. 
(b) Clause 6(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives 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 proposing a waiver of 
clause 7 of rule XXI.’’. 
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