The House of Representatives follows a well-established routine on the opening day of a new Congress. The proceedings include electing and swearing in the Speaker, swearing in Members, electing and swearing in House administrative officers, and adopting rules of procedure and various administrative resolutions. Resolutions assigning some or many Members to committees may also be adopted. The House must take these actions at the beginning of each new Congress because it is not a continuing body. Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution sets a term of office for Members of the House at two years. Thus, one House ends at the conclusion of each two-year Congress, and the newly elected Representatives must constitute a new House at the beginning of a new Congress. The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution directs that a new Congress convene at noon on January 3 in each odd-numbered year, unless the preceding Congress has by law designated a different day for the new Congress's convening. On November 20, 2014, the 113 th Congress completed action on H.J.Res. 129 , setting the convening date for the 114 th Congress as January 6, 2015. The joint resolution was signed into law by President Obama on December 4 ( P.L. 113-201 ). Congressional leaders planned that the 115 th Congress would convene January 3, 2017, and that the 116 th Congress would convene January 3, 2019, obviating the need for a law to set the date. In recent years, it has been the exception rather than the rule for a new Congress to begin on January 3. Nine of the past 12 Congresses began on a date other than January 3: 104 th Congress (January 4, 1995), 105 th Congress (January 7, 1997), 106 th Congress (January 6, 1999), 108 th Congress (January 7, 2003), 109 th Congress (January 4, 2005), 110 th Congress (January 4, 2007), 111 th Congress (January 6, 2009), 112 th Congress (January 5, 2011), and 114 th Congress (January 6, 2015). The 107 th , 113 th , and 115 th Congresses were the 3 of these 12 to begin on January 3, convening January 3, 2001; January 3, 2013; and January 3, 2017, respectively. Although no officers of the House will have been elected when the House first convenes, officers from the previous Congress perform certain functions. The previous Clerk of the House calls the House to order and presides over the chamber until the Speaker is elected and sworn in. In the absence of the Clerk, the Sergeant at Arms performs this duty. After the Clerk calls the Representatives-elect to order, the Chaplain offers a prayer. The Clerk leads the Members-elect and their guests in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. The Clerk then directs a reading clerk to call the roll of all Members-elect to establish that a quorum is present. In current practice, the roll is not actually called by a clerk; rather, the Members-elect record their presence by inserting their official voting cards (obtained prior to or on opening day) in the chamber's electronic voting machines. Once the call of the roll is completed, a majority having registered their names, a quorum (218, if no vacancies) is indicated. This action fulfills the requirements of Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution that a quorum be present to conduct business. The Clerk then announces the election of the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico (when applicable since the Resident Commissioner's term is four years) and of the Delegates—one person from the District of Columbia and one person from each of the territories of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. The Clerk also reports any deaths or resignations since the election. A quorum being present, the first order of official business is the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The candidates for Speaker are nominated from the floor by the leaders of their respective parties. Traditionally, there is one candidate from the majority party and one from the minority party, selected by the Republican Conference and the Democratic Caucus at their early organizational meetings. Individual Members-elect may place other names in nomination. Debate on the nomination of candidates for Speaker is allowed but not customary. Instead, the nominations are followed immediately by a viva voce roll-call vote, that is, a vote in which the Members-elect respond orally to the calling of their names. In this vote, the Members-elect call out the last name of their choice for Speaker when their names are called by a reading clerk. The Clerk appoints Members-elect to serve as majority and minority tellers, usually two each, to ascertain the vote. So long as nearly all of the majority party's members vote for its candidate, the majority party is able to assure its candidate's election because the vote is likely to be almost exclusively along party lines. The candidates themselves, however, often vote "present" or do not vote. The following excerpt is from the proceedings for the election of the Speaker in the 115 th Congress. ELECTION OF SPEAKER The CLERK. Pursuant to law and precedent, the next order of business is the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 115 th Congress. Nominations are now in order. The Clerk now recognizes the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. McMORRIS RODGERS). Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS. ... As chair of the Republican Conference, I am directed by the vote of that conference to present for election to the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 115 th Congress the name of the Honorable PAUL D. RYAN.... The Clerk now recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. CROWLEY). Mr. CROWLEY. ... Madam Clerk, [as chair of the Democratic Caucus] I am pleased to put forth the name of the Representative-elect from California, NANCY PELOSI, for Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 115 th Congress. The CLERK. The names of the Honorable PAUL D. RYAN, a Representative-elect from the State of Wisconsin, and the Honorable NANCY PELOSI, a Representative-elect from the State of California, have been placed in nomination. Are there further nominations? There being no further nominations, the Clerk appoints the following tellers: The gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. HARPER); the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. BRADY); the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. KAPTUR); and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN). The tellers will come forward and take their seats at the desk in front of the Speaker's rostrum. The roll will now be called, and those responding to their names will indicate by surname the nominee of their choosing. The Reading Clerk will now call the roll. The tellers having taken their places, the House proceeded to vote for the Speaker. ... The CLERK. The tellers agree in their tallies that the total number of votes cast is 433, of which the Honorable PAUL D. RYAN of the State of Wisconsin has received 239, the Honorable NANCY PELOSI of the State of California has received 189, the Honorable TIM RYAN of the State of Ohio has received 2, the Honorable JIM COOPER of the States of Tennessee has received 1, the Honorable JOHN LEWIS of the State of Georgia has received 1, and the Honorable DANIEL WEBSTER of the State of Florida has received 1. Therefore, the Honorable PAUL D. RYAN of the State of Wisconsin, having received a majority of the votes cast, is duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 115 th Congress. After the Speaker's election, the Clerk appoints a bipartisan committee to escort the Speaker-elect to the Speaker's chair on the dais. The Speaker-elect is escorted by leaders of both parties and, often, by Representatives-elect from his or her home state. He or she is introduced to the chamber by the minority leader, who might deliver a statement from the chair. The Speaker may make a statement of his or her own and then takes the oath of office. By precedent, the dean of the House, the most senior (longest-serving) Member, regardless of party, administers the oath to the Speaker. That oath is identical to that of the other Members. (See " Oath of Office for Members-Elect .") The Speaker during the day's proceedings delivers a letter to the Clerk listing Members in the order in which they may act as the Speaker pro tempore, should a vacancy occur in the office, until a new Speaker is elected. After taking the oath, the Speaker administers the oath to all Members of the House, en masse, including the nonvoting Delegates and Resident Commissioner. The Speaker directs the Representatives-elect to rise and raise their right hands. The oath, which follows, is stated in the form of a question, to which the newly elected Members respond in the affirmative: [Do you] I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that [you] I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that [you] I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that [you] I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that [you] I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which [you] I am about to enter[?]. So help [you] me God. An oath is mandated by Article VI of the Constitution, and its text is set by statute (5 U.S.C. 3331).