January 3, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 1 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 1
(House of Representatives - January 03, 2019)
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[Pages H198-H201] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair customarily takes this occasion at the outset of a Congress to announce policies with respect to particular aspects of the legislative process. The Chair will insert in the Record announcements concerning: First, privileges of the floor; Second, introduction of bills and resolutions; Third, unanimous-consent requests for the consideration of legislation; Fourth, recognition for 1-minute speeches; Fifth, recognition for Special Order speeches; [[Page H199]] Sixth, decorum in debate; Seventh, conduct of votes by electronic device; Eighth, use of handouts on the House floor; Ninth, use of electronic equipment on the House floor; and Tenth, use of the Chamber. These announcements, where appropriate, will reiterate the origins of the stated policies. The Chair intends to continue in the 116th Congress the policies reflected in these statements. The policy announced in the 102nd Congress with respect to jurisdictional concepts related to clauses 5(a) of rule XXI--tax and tariff measures--will continue to govern but need not be reiterated, as it is adequately documented as precedent in the House Rules and Manual. Without objection, the announcements will be printed in the Record. There was no objection. 1. Privileges of the Floor The Chair will make the following announcements regarding floor privileges, which will apply during the 116th Congress. ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER WITH RESPECT TO STAFF Rule IV strictly limits those persons to whom the privileges of the floor during sessions of the House are extended, and that rule prohibits the Chair from entertaining requests for suspension or waiver of that rule. As reiterated by the Chair on January 21, 1986, January 3, 1985, January 25, 1983, and August 22, 1974, and as stated in Chapter 10, section 2, of House Practice, the rule strictly limits the number of committee staff on the floor at one time during the consideration of measures reported from their committees. This permission does not extend to Members' personal staff except when a Member's amendment is actually pending during the five-minute rule. It also does not extend to personal staff of Members who are sponsors of pending bills. The Chair requests the cooperation of all Members and committee staff to assure that only the proper number of staff are on the floor, and then only during the consideration of measures within the jurisdiction of their committees. The Chair is making this statement and reiterating this policy because of Members' past insistence upon strict enforcement of the rule. The Chair requests each committee chair, and each ranking minority member, to submit to the Speaker a list of those staff who are allowed on the floor during the consideration of a measure in the jurisdiction of their committee. The Sergeant-at-Arms, who has been directed to assure proper enforcement of rule IV, will keep the list. Each staff person should exchange his or her ID for a ``committee staff' badge, which is to be worn while on the floor. The Chair has consulted, and will continue to consult with, the Minority Leader. Furthermore, as the Chair announced on January 7, 2003, in accordance with the change in the 108th Congress of clause 2(a) of rule IV regarding leadership staff floor access, only designated staff approved by the Speaker shall be granted the privilege of the floor. The Speaker intends that this approval be narrowly granted on a bipartisan basis to staff from the majority and minority side and only to those staff essential to floor activities. ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER WITH RESPECT TO FORMER MEMBERS The Speaker's policy announced on February 1, 2006, will continue to apply in the 116th Congress. ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER, FEBRUARY 1, 2006 The SPEAKER. The House has adopted a revision to the rule regarding the admission to the floor and the rooms leading thereto. Clause 4 of rule IV provides that a former Member, Delegate or Resident Commissioner or a former Parliamentarian of the House, or a former elected officer of the House or a former minority employee nominated as an elected officer of the House shall not be entitled to the privilege of admission to the Hall of the House and the rooms extending thereto if he or she is a registered lobbyist or an agent of a foreign principal; has any direct personal pecuniary interest in any legislative measure pending before the House, or reported by a committee; or is in the employ of or represents any party or organization for the purpose of influencing, directly or indirectly, the passage, defeat, or amendment of any legislative proposal. This restriction extends not only to the House floor but adjacent rooms, the cloakrooms and the Speaker's lobby. Clause 4 of rule IV also allows the Speaker to exempt ceremonial and educational functions from the restrictions of this clause. These restrictions shall not apply to attendance at joint meetings or joint sessions, Former Members' Day proceedings, educational tours, and other occasions as the Speaker may designate. Members who have reason to know that a person is on the floor inconsistent with clause 4 of rule IV should notify the Sergeant-at-Arms promptly. 2. Introduction of Bills and Resolutions The policy that the Chair announced on January 3, 1983, with respect to the introduction and reference of bills and resolutions will continue to apply in the 116th Congress. The Chair has advised all officers and employees of the House who are involved in the processing of bills that every bill, resolution, memorial, petition or other material that is placed in the hopper must bear the signature of a Member. Where a bill or resolution is jointly sponsored, the signature must be that of the Member first named thereon. The bill clerk is instructed to return to the Member any bill which appears in the hopper without an original signature. This procedure was inaugurated in the 92d Congress. It has worked well, and the Chair thinks that it is essential to continue this practice to insure the integrity of the process by which legislation is introduced in the House. The Chair has noted a need for increased attention to detail regarding the addition of cosponsors to measures to ensure accuracy. To that end, Members are encouraged to use the template provided by the Office of the Clerk, which requests Members seeking to be added as cosponors to include their printed name, original signature, and state. Members routinely include their original signatures, states, and districts when voting by card in the well, so the Chair is hopeful that the inclusion of such information on a cosponsor form will be a familiar task. 3. Unanimous-Consent Requests for the Consideration of Legislation The policy the Chair announced on January 6, 1999, with respect to recognition for unanimous-consent requests for the consideration of certain legislative measures will continue to apply in the 116th Congress. The Speaker will continue to follow the guidelines recorded in section 956 of the House Rules and Manual conferring recognition for unanimous-consent requests for the consideration of bills, resolutions, and other measures only when assured that the majority and minority floor leadership and the relevant committee chairs and ranking minority members have no objection. Consistent with those guidelines and with the Chair's inherent power of recognition under clause 2 of rule XVII, the Chair, and any occupant of the chair appointed as Speaker pro tempore pursuant to clause 8 of rule I, will decline recognition for the unanimous-consent requests chronicled in section 956 without assurances that the request has been so cleared. This denial of recognition by the Chair will not reflect necessarily any personal opposition on the part of the Chair to orderly consideration of the matter in question, but will reflect the determination upon the part of the Chair that orderly procedures will be followed; that is, procedures involving consultation and agreement between floor and committee leadership on both sides of the aisle. 4. Recognition for One-Minute Speeches ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER WITH RESPECT TO ONE-MINUTE SPEECHES The Speaker's policy announced on August 8, 1984, with respect to recognition for one-minute speeches will apply during the 116th Congress. The Chair will alternate recognition for one-minute speeches between majority and minority Members, in the order in which they seek recognition in the well under present practice from the Chair's right to the Chair's left, with possible exceptions for Members of the leadership and Members having business requests. The Chair, of course, reserves the right to limit one-minute speeches to a certain period of time or to a special place in the program on any given day, with notice to the leadership. In addition, during the 116th Congress, the Chair will continue the practice of not recognizing Members for a one- minute speech more than one time per legislative day. 5. Recognition for Special-Order Speeches ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER WITH RESPECT TO SPECIAL-ORDER SPEECHES The Speaker's policy with regard to special-order speeches announced on February 11, 1994, as clarified and reiterated by subsequent Speakers, will continue to apply in the 116th Congress, with the following modifications. The Chair may recognize Members for special-order speeches for up to 4 hours. Such speeches may not extend beyond the 4- hour limit without the permission of the Chair, which may be granted only with advance consultation between the leaderships and notification to the House. However, the Chair will not recognize for any special-order speeches beyond 10 o'clock in the evening. The 4-hour limitation will be divided between the majority and minority parties. Each party is entitled to reserve its first hour for respective leaderships or their designees. The second hour reserved to each party will be divided into two 30-minute periods. Recognition for one-hour periods and for 30-minute periods will alternate initially and subsequently between the parties each day. The Chair wishes to clarify for Members that any 60- or 30-minute period that is not claimed at the appropriate time will be considered to have expired; this includes the first 60-minute period of the day. The allocation of time within each party's 2-hour period (or shorter period if prorated to end by 10 p.m.) will be determined by a list submitted to the Chair by the respective leaderships. Members may not sign up with their leadership for any special-order speeches earlier than one week prior to the special order. The Chair will not recognize a Member for more than one special-order speech per week, nor may a Member sign up for a second special-order speech in the same week. Additional guidelines may be established for such sign-ups by the respective leaderships. [[Page H200]] Pursuant to clause 2(a) of rule V, the television cameras will not pan the Chamber, but a ``crawl'' indicating the conduct of morning-hour debate or that the House has completed its legislative business and is proceeding with special-order speeches will appear on the screen. The Chair may announce other adaptations during this period. The continuation of this format for recognition by the Speaker is without prejudice to the Speaker's ultimate power of recognition under clause 2 of rule XVII and includes the ability to withdraw recognition for longer special-order speeches should circumstances warrant. 6. Decorum in Debate Although clause 5 of rule XVII prohibits Members from wearing hats on the floor of the House, the Speaker intends to continue to apply discretion in enforcing this prohibition in the case of hats or other head coverings worn for reasons of medical necessity. In addition, the Chair's announced policies of January 7, 2003, January 4, 1995, and January 3, 1991, will apply in the 116th Congress. It is essential that the dignity of the proceedings of the House be preserved, not only to assure that the House conducts its business in an orderly fashion but also to permit Members to properly comprehend and participate in the business of the House. To this end, and in order to permit the Chair to understand and to correctly put the question on the numerous requests that are made by Members, the Chair requests that Members and others who have the privileges of the floor desist from audible conversation in the Chamber while the business of the House is being conducted. The Chair would encourage all Members to review rule XVII to gain a better understanding of the proper rules of decorum expected of them, and especially: to avoid ``personalities'' in debate with respect to references to other Members, the Senate, and the President; to address the Chair only during, and not beyond, the time recognized, and not to address the television or other imagined audience; to refrain from passing between the Chair and a Member speaking, or directly in front of a Member speaking from the well; to refrain from smoking in the Chamber; to wear appropriate business attire in the Chamber; and to generally display the same degree of respect to the Chair and other Members that every Member is due. The Chair would like all Members to be on notice that the Chair intends to strictly enforce time limitations on debate. Furthermore, the Chair has the authority to immediately interrupt Members in debate who transgress rule XVII by failing to avoid ``personalities'' in debate with respect to references to the Senate, the President, and other Members, rather than wait for Members to complete their remarks. Finally, it is not in order to speak disrespectfully of the Speaker; and under the precedents the sanctions for such violations transcend the ordinary requirements for timeliness of challenges. This separate treatment is recorded in volume 2 of Hinds' Precedents, at section 1248 and was reiterated on January 19, 1995. 7. Conduct of Votes by Electronic Device The Speaker's policy announced on January 4, 1995, with respect to the conduct of electronic votes will continue in the 116th Congress with modifications as follows. As Members are aware, clause 2(a) of rule XX provides that Members shall have not less than 15 minutes in which to answer an ordinary record vote or quorum call. The rule obviously establishes 15 minutes as a minimum. Still, with the cooperation of the Members, a vote can easily be completed in that time. The events of October 30, 1991, stand out as proof of this point. On that occasion, the House was considering a bill in the Committee of the Whole under a special rule that placed an overall time limit on the amendment process, including the time consumed by record votes. The Chair announced, and then strictly enforced, a policy of closing electronic votes as soon as possible after the guaranteed period of 15 minutes. Members appreciated and cooperated with the Chair's enforcement of the policy on that occasion. The Chair desires that the example of October 30, 1991, be made the regular practice of the House. To that end, the Chair enlists the assistance of all Members in avoiding the unnecessary loss of time in conducting the business of the House. The Chair encourages all Members to depart for the Chamber promptly upon the appropriate bell and light signal. As in recent Congresses, the cloakrooms should not forward to the Chair requests to hold a vote by electronic device, but should simply apprise inquiring Members of the time remaining on the voting clock. Members should not rely on signals relayed from outside the Chamber to assume that votes will be held open until they arrive in the Chamber. Members will be given a reasonable amount of time in which to accurately record their votes, and the Chair will endeavor to assess the presence of the membership and the expectation of further votes prior to exercising the authority under clause 9 of rule XX or clause 6(g) of rule XVIII. The Speaker believes the best practice for presiding officers is to await the Clerk's certification that a vote tally is complete and accurate. Members are further reminded, in accordance with the Speaker's statement of January 7, 2016, that the standard policy is to not terminate the vote when a Member is in the well attempting to cast a vote. Other efforts to hold the vote open are not similarly protected. 8. Use of Handouts on House Floor The Speaker's policy announced on September 27, 1995, which was prompted by a misuse of handouts on the House floor and made at the bipartisan request of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, will continue in the 116th Congress. All handouts distributed on or adjacent to the House floor by Members during House proceedings must bear the name of the Member authorizing their distribution. In addition, the content of those materials must comport with standards of propriety applicable to words spoken in debate or inserted in the Record. Failure to comply with this admonition may constitute a breach of decorum and may give rise to a question of privilege. The Chair would also remind Members that, pursuant to clause 5 of rule IV, staff is prohibited from engaging in efforts in the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto to influence Members with regard to the legislation being amended. Staff cannot distribute handouts. In order to enhance the quality of debate in the House, the Chair would ask Members to minimize the use of handouts. 9. Use of Electronic Equipment on House Floor The Speaker's policy announced on January 27, 2000, as clarified on January 6, 2009, and as modified by the change in clause 5 of rule XVII in the 112th Congress, will continue in the 116th Congress with modifications as follows. All Members and staff are reminded of the absolute prohibition contained in clause 5 of rule XVII against the use of mobile electronic devices that impair decorum. Those devices include wireless telephones and personal computers. The Chair wishes to note that electronic tablet devices do not constitute personal computers within the meaning of this policy and thus may be unobtrusively used in the Chamber. No device may be used for still photography or for audio or video recording or for live broadcasting. The Chair requests all Members and staff wishing to receive or make wireless telephone calls to do so outside of the Chamber. The Chair further requests that all Members and staff refrain from wearing telephone headsets in the Chamber and to deactivate any audible ring of wireless phones before entering the Chamber. To this end, the Chair insists upon the cooperation of all Members and staff and instructs the Sergeant-at-Arms, pursuant to clause 3(a) of rule II and clause 5 of rule XVII, to enforce this prohibition. In light of the changes to rule II and rule XVII in the 115th Congress, the Chair would like to take this opportunity to educate all Members and staff on how these changes will be implemented. The Sergeant-at-Arms is charged with enforcement of clause 3(g) rule II, which prohibits the use of electronic devices for still photography or for audio or visual recording or broadcasting in contravention of clause 5 of rule XVII and the policies just articulated. The Chair would advise Members of the following policies of the Sergeant-at- Arms surrounding the rules change. The Sergeant-at-Arms will enforce the prohibition with respect to violations observed first-hand on the House floor as well as violations that become apparent at a later time, such as through publication online or broadcast on television. In the case of violations observed on the floor, the Sergeant-at-Arms will hand the offending Member a card noting the violation, and will follow up by sending the Member a written letter. In the case of other violations, Members will receive a written letter detailing the offending conduct. The fine for a first offense is $500. The fine for each subsequent offense is $2500. The Sergeant-at-Arms will endeavor to provide Members a written warning prior to assessing a fine for a first offense. Because of the inherent difficulty of enforcing this prohibition during ceremonial events, the Sergeant-at-Arms may choose not to cite minor violations occurring during such an event. Pursuant to clause 3(g)(3) of rule II, in addition to notifying the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner concerned, the Sergeant-at-Arms will also notify the Speaker, the Chief Administrative Officer, and the Committee on Ethics of any fine imposed. Upon receiving notification of a fine, a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner may appeal the fine to the Committee on Ethics within 30 calendar days or 5 legislative days, whichever is later. The Sergeant-at-Arms and the Committee on Ethics are each authorized to establish policies and procedures for the implementation of these rules. The Chief Administrative Officer is authorized to establish policies and procedures for deducting any such fine from a Member's net salary. It is the desire of the Chair that any such policies and procedures be submitted for printing in the Congressional Record. Nothing in the House rules or this policy deprives the House of its ability to address breaches of decorum or other violations of House rules that may give rise to questions of the privileges of the House under rule IX. The Chair appreciates the attention of all Members to these efforts. 10. Use of Chamber The Speaker's policy announced on January 6, 2009, with respect to use of the Chamber will continue in the 116th Congress. The Chair will announce to the House the policy of the Speaker concerning appropriate comportment in the chamber when the House is not in session. [[Page H201]] Under clause 3 of rule I, the Speaker is responsible to control the Hall of the House. Under clause 1 of rule IV, the Hall of the House is to be used only for the legislative business of the House, for caucus and conference meetings of its Members, and for such ceremonies as the House might agree to conduct there. When the House stands adjourned, its chamber remains on static display. It may accommodate visitors in the gallery or on the floor, subject to the needs of those who operate, maintain, and secure the chamber to go about their ordinary business. Because outside ``coverage'' of the chamber is limited to floor proceedings and is allowed only by accredited journalists, when the chamber is on static display no audio or video recording or transmitting devices are allowed. The long custom of disallowing even still photography in the chamber is based at least in part on the notion that an image having this setting as its backdrop might be taken to carry the imprimatur of the House. The imprimatur of the House adheres to the Journal of its proceedings, which is kept pursuant to the Constitution. The imprimatur of the House adheres to the Congressional Record, which is kept as a substantially verbatim transcript pursuant to clause 8 of rule XVII. The imprimatur of the House adheres to the audio and visual transmissions and recordings that are made and kept by the television system administered by the Speaker pursuant to rule V. But the imprimatur of the House may not be appropriated to other, ad hoc accounts or compositions of events in its chamber. ____________________
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