IV
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 60
A resolution raising a question of the privileges of the House.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 3, 1993
Mr. SOLOMON submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Rules
RESOLUTION
A resolution raising a question of the privileges of the House.
Whereas article I, section 1, of the Constitution provides
that, ‘‘All legislative powers herein granted shall be vest-
ed in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist
of a Senate and a House of Representatives;’’
Whereas article I, section 2, of the Constitution provides
that, ‘‘The House of Representatives shall be composed
of Members chosen every second year by the people of the
several States;’’
Whereas the Committee of the Whole is a device used by the
House under which all House Members act together to
debate and amend bills raising revenues or directly or in-
directly appropriating money;
Whereas the Committee of the Whole is an integral part of
the legislative process and the means by which the House
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of Representatives exercises its legislative powers and
prerogatives under the Constitution;
Whereas on January 5, 1993, the House, in the resolution
adopting the Rules of the House for the One Hundred
Third Congress (H. Res. 5), included provisions authoriz-
ing the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico and the
delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam, American
Samoa, and the Virgin Islands to vote in and preside over
the Committee of the Whole;
Whereas attempts to refer the proposal to a select committee
to study its constitutionality and to separately vote on
such proposal were prevented by procedural votes, and
the House was thereby precluded from making a separate
determination as to whether such provisions are in con-
formance with constitutional requirements and Members’
sworn duty to uphold the Constitution;
Whereas such proposal affects the representational rights of
duly elected Members of the House under the Constitu-
tion and could result in a derogation or denial of such
rights;
Whereas such proposal affects the constitutional lawmaking
prerogatives of the House and its Members and the integ-
rity of the process by which bills are considered, and thus
raises a question of the privileges of the House;
Whereas the House has just adopted a resolution making it
in order for the Speaker to declare the House resolved
into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of
the Union for the consideration of legislation, and this
represents the first instance in the One Hundred Third
Congress in which the House is resolving into the Com-
mittee of the Whole under the provisions of the new rule
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allowing non-Members of the House to vote in and Chair
the Committee of the Whole; and
Whereas the inability and failure of the House to make a sep-
arate determination as to the constitutionality of proposal
prior to this first use of the rule presents the House with
an ‘‘extraordinary question’’ under the Constitution re-
quiring a separate determination and thus raises a ques-
tion of the privileges of the House: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That, as a matter of the constitutional
privileges of the House to make all laws and to preserve
the integrity of its proceedings and the representational
rights of its Members, the implementation of those provi-
sions of House Rules as adopted on January 5, 1993, au-
thorizing the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico
and the Delegates from the District of Columbia, Amer-
ican Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and Guam to vote in and
preside over the Committee of the Whole, shall be delayed
until such time that the House has made a separate deter-
mination as to whether such provisions can and should
be implemented by a rule of the House, consistent with
article I, sections 1 and 2, of the Constitution.
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