IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 659 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to protect the integrity 
of the institution. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 31, 2006 
Mr. OBEY (for himself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. PRICE of North 
Carolina, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BACA, 
Mr. BAIRD, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BARROW, Mr. BECERRA, Ms. BERKLEY, 
Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 
Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. BOREN, Mr. BOYD, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. 
BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CARDOZA, Ms. CARSON, Mr. CASE, Mr. 
CHANDLER, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COOPER, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. CROWLEY, 
Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. DAVIS of California, 
Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DIN-
GELL, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. EVANS, Mr. 
FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FORD, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. 
GORDON, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. 
HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. HERSETH, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. 
HINOJOSA, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HOYER, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. JACK-
SON of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHN-
SON of Texas, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. KILDEE, 
Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LARSEN of Wash-
ington, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LEWIS of 
Georgia, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MARSHALL, Ms. MATSUI, 
Mrs. MCCARTHY, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. MILLER 
of North Carolina, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. MILLENDER- 
MCDONALD, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. 
MORAN of Virginia, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
OLVER, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. OWENS, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. PETERSON of Min-
nesota, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. REYES, Mr. ROSS, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. 
RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. SALAZAR, Ms. LINDA T. 
SA´NCHEZ of California, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SAND-
ERS, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. 
SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. SNYDER, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. 
SPRATT, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. STUPAK, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. TAYLOR 
of Mississippi, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. UDALL of New 
Mexico, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WATSON, Mr. WATT,
•HRES 659 IH 
Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. WU) submitted the following reso-
lution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition 
to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
RESOLUTION 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to 
protect the integrity of the institution. 
Resolved, 
SECTION 1. LIMITING INFLUENCE BY LOBBYISTS. 
(a) REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCEPTING PAYMENT OF 
TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Clause 5 of rule XXV of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (e) and (f) as 
paragraphs (f) and (g); and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (d) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(e) Before a Member, Delegate, Resident Commis-
sioner, officer, or employee of the House may accept trans-
portation or lodging or reimbursement for such expenses 
which are otherwise permitted to be accepted or reim-
bursed under this clause, the Member, Delegate, Resident 
Commissioner, officer, or employee (as the case may be) 
shall obtain a written certification from the sponsoring or-
ganization or person stating that—
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‘‘(1) no registered lobbyist has been invited to 
participate in the transportation, lodging, or any as-
sociated meetings; 
‘‘(2) the organization or person conducts no 
lobbying activities as defined in section 501 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 
‘‘(3) the organization or person neither employs 
nor contracts for the services of a registered lobbyist 
nor is affiliated with an organization that employs or 
contracts for the services of a registered lobbyist; 
and 
‘‘(4) no part of the trip is financed by a cor-
poration or person, unless the trip is financed by 
contributions that are deductible under the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 and the source of all such 
contributions are disclosed in the written certifi-
cation. 
Each such certification shall be signed by the individual 
receiving it and filed with the Clerk who shall make such 
signed certification available to the public in a timely man-
ner.’’. 
(b) FLOOR PRIVILEGES OF FORMER MEMBERS AND 
HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS.— 
(1) Clause 4(a) of rule IV of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives is amended—
•HRES 659 IH 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (1); 
(B) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; 
and’’ at the end of subparagraph (2); and 
(C) by inserting at the end the following 
new subparagraph: 
‘‘(3) they sign a declaration each time they are 
admitted to the Hall of the House or the rooms 
leading thereto, to be maintained by the Sergeant- 
at-Arms, stating that the conditions set forth in sub-
paragraphs (1) and (2) are true and also that they 
will not lobby for the passage, amendment, or defeat 
of any legislative measure pending before the House, 
reported by a committee, or under consideration in 
any of its committees or subcommittees.’’. 
(2) Clauses 2(a)(12) and (14) of rule IV of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives are each 
amended by inserting ‘‘(subject to clause (4)’’ before 
the period. 
SEC. 2. FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY. 
(a) RECONCILIATION.—Clause 10 of rule XVIII of 
the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(d) It shall not be in order to consider any reconcili-
ation legislation which has the net effect of reducing the
•HRES 659 IH 
surplus or increasing the deficit compared to the most re-
cent Congressional Budget Office estimate for any fiscal 
year.’’. 
(b) APPLICATION
OF POINTS
OF ORDER UNDER 
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT TO ALL BILLS AND JOINT 
RESOLUTIONS CONSIDERED UNDER SPECIAL ORDERS OF 
BUSINESS.—Rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives is amended by adding at the end the following 
new clause: 
‘‘7. For purposes of applying section 315 of the Con-
gressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, 
the term ‘as reported’ under such section shall be consid-
ered to include any bill or joint resolution considered in 
the House pursuant to a special order of business.’’. 
SEC. 3. CURBING ABUSES OF POWER. 
(a) LIMIT
ON TIME PERMITTED
FOR RECORDED 
ELECTRONIC VOTES.—Clause 2(a) of rule XX of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by in-
serting after the second sentence the following sentence: 
‘‘The maximum time for a record vote by electronic device 
shall be 20 minutes, except that the time may be extended 
with the consent of both the majority and minority floor 
managers of the legislation involved or both the majority 
leader and the minority leader.’’.