IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 504 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to require that legisla-
tion and conference reports be available on the Internet for 72 hours 
before consideration by the House, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 20, 2007 
Mr. BAIRD (for himself, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. 
MOORE of Kansas, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, and Mr. 
JOHNSON of Illinois) submitted the following resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Rules 
RESOLUTION 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to 
require that legislation and conference reports be avail-
able on the Internet for 72 hours before consideration 
by the House, and for other purposes. 
Resolved, 
SECTION 1. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this resolution is to: 
(1) Modernize the operations of the House of 
Representatives using information technology that 
has transformed and increased the efficiency of 
many aspects of American society such as financial 
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•HRES 504 IH 
services and markets, transportation, manufac-
turing, agriculture, and commerce with consumers 
and businesses. 
(2) 
Slow 
the 
explosive 
growth 
of 
the 
$8,000,000,000,000 national debt of the United 
States, reduce excessive annual budget deficits, and 
control the size and scope of government by ensuring 
that there is adequate scrutiny of proposals for new 
and amended laws, taxes, and expenditures. 
(3) Enhance public participation in American 
democracy and improve the quality of proposed leg-
islation by allowing the opportunity for its review by 
State and local government officials, small business 
owners, large business leaders, journalists, scientists, 
academics, labor leaders, nonprofit organization 
leaders, authors of weblogs, and interested citizens. 
(4) Help restore public trust in government and 
enhance respect for the House of Representatives 
and the Congress by ensuring that their operations 
are conducted with the openness, order, and dignity 
befitting the world’s oldest democracy. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO RULE XIII REGARDING AVAIL-
ABILITY OF LEGISLATION AND REPORTS. 
(a) Clause 4 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives is amended— 
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(1) in its side heading, by inserting ‘‘legislation 
and’’ before ‘‘reports’’; 
(2) in paragraph (a) by striking subparagraph 
(1) and inserting the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(1) Except as specified in subparagraph (2), it shall 
not be in order to consider in the House a measure or 
matter until 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and 
holidays except when the House is in session on such a 
day) after the text of such measure or matter (and, if the 
measure or matter is reported, the text of all accom-
panying reports) have been made available to Members, 
Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and the general 
public pursuant to subparagraph (3).’’; 
(3) by adding at the end of paragraph (a) the 
following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(3) Without further amendment before floor consid-
eration, the full text of the measure or matter and each 
committee report thereon shall be posted continuously by 
means of the Internet in such a manner that they are con-
veniently accessible using existing technology, anony-
mously and at no cost, in a format that is searchable by 
text.’’; and 
(4) in paragraph (c), by striking ‘‘the third cal-
endar day’’ and inserting ‘‘at least 72 hours’’ and by 
striking ‘‘on’’ and inserting ‘‘after’’. 
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(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 general public’’; and 
(2) in clause 6(c), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end 
of subparagraph (1), by striking the period at the 
end of subparagraph (2) and inserting ‘‘; or’’, and 
by adding at the end the following new subpara-
graph: 
‘‘(3) a rule or order proposing a waiver of 
clause 4(a) of rule XIII or of clause 8(a) or 8(b) of 
rule XXII, unless a question of consideration of the 
rule is adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the Mem-
bers 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 subparagraph (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-
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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 general public pursuant to subparagraph (2). 
‘‘(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 by means of the Internet in such a 
manner that they are conveniently accessible using exist-
ing technology, anonymously and at no cost, in a format 
that can be searched by text.’’; 
(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 general public pursuant to subparagraph 
(2). 
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‘‘(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 by means of the Internet in such a 
manner that they are conveniently accessible using exist-
ing technology, anonymously and at no cost, in a format 
that can be searched by text.’’. 
SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION. 
Nothing in this resolution or any amendment made 
by it shall be interpreted to require or permit the declas-
sification or posting on the Internet of classified informa-
tion in the custody of the House of Representatives. Such 
classified information shall be made available to Members 
in a timely manner as appropriate under existing laws and 
rules. 
SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE HOUSE REGARDING AMENDMENTS. 
It is the sense of the House that, with the objective 
of preventing circumvention of clause 4(a) of rule XIII of 
the Rules of the House of Representatives that the Com-
mittee on Rules should develop standardized policies and 
procedures to require that proposed amendments (except 
those offered under an open rule) that are major in size, 
scope, or cost be posted on the Internet for an appropriate 
number of hours. 
Æ 
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