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OF BILLS.

115. Every bill shall be introduced on the report of a committee, or by motion for leave. In the latter case, at least one day's notice shall be given of the motion in the House, or by filing a memorandum thereof with the Clerk, and having it entered on the journal; and the motion shall be made, and the bill introduced, if leave is given, when resolutions are called for; such motion, or the bill when introduced, may be committed.—April 7, 1789; September 15, 1837; and March 2, 1838.

116. Every bill shall receive three several readings in the House, previous to its passage; and bills shall be despatched in order as they were introduced, unless where the House shall direct otherwise; but no bill shall be twice read on the same day, without special order of the House.-April 7, 1789.

117. The first reading of a bill shall be for information, and if opposition be made to it, the question shall be, "Shall this bill be rejected?" If no opposition be made, or if the question to reject be negatived, the bill shall go to its second reading without a ques tion.-April 7, 1789.

118. Upon the second reading of a bill, the Speaker shall state it as ready for commitment or engrossment; and if committed, then a question shall be, whether to a select or standing committee, or to a Committee of the Whole House; if to a Committee of the Whole House, the House shall determine on what day-November 13, 1794; if no motion be made to commit, the question shall be stated on its engrossment; and if it be not ordered to be engrossed on the day of its being reported, it shall be placed on the general file on the Speaker's table, to be taken up in order.-September 14, 1837. But if the bill be ordered to be engrossed, the House shall appoint the day when it shall be read the third time.-November 13, 1794.

119. General appropriation bills shall be in order in preference to any other bills of a public nature, unless otherwise ordered by a majority of the House.-September 14, 1837.

And the House may, at any time, by a vote of a majority of the members present, make any of the general appropriation bills a special order.-March 16, 1860.

120. No appropriation shall be reported in such general appropriation bills, or be in order as an amendment thereto, for any expenditure not previously authorized by law-September 14, 1837-unless in continuation of appropriations for such public works and objects as are already in progress, and for the contingencies for carrying on the several departments of the government.-March 13, 1838.

121. Upon the engrossment of any bill making appropriations of money for works of internal improvement of any kind or description, it shall be in the power of any member to call for a division of the question, so as to take a separate vote of the House upon each item of improvement or appropriation contained in said bill, or upon such items separately, and others collectively, as the members making the

call may specify; and if one-fifth of the members present second said call, it shall be the duty of the Speaker to make such divisions of the question, and put them to vote accordingly.-February 26, 1846.

122. The bills from the Court of Claims shall, on being laid before the House, be read a first and second time, committed to a Committee of the Whole House, and, together with the accompanying reports, printed.-March 16, 1860.

123. A motion to strike out the enacting words of a bill shall have precedence of a motion to amend; and, if carried, shall be considered equivalent to its rejection.-March 13, 1822. Whenever a bill is reported from a Committee of the Whole with a recommendation to strike out the enacting words, and such recommendation is disagreed to by the House, the bill shall stand recommitted to the said committee without further action by the House.-March 16, 1860.

124. After commitment and report thereof to the House, or at any time before its passage, a bill may be recommitted--April 7, 1789; and should such recommitment take place after its engrossment, and an amendment be reported and agreed to by the House, the question. shall be again put on the engrossment of the bill.—March 16, 1860.. 125. All bills ordered to be engrossed shall be executed in a fair round hand.-April 7, 1789.

126. No amendment by way of rider shall be received to any bill on its third reading.-April 8, 1814.

127. When a bill shall pass, it shall be certified by the Clerk, noting, the day of its passage at the foot thereof.-April 7, 1789.

LOCAL OR PRIVATE BUSINESS.

128. Friday and Saturday in every week shall be set apart for the consideration of private bills and private business, in preference to any other, unless otherwise determined by a majority of the House.January 22, 1810, and January 26, 1826.

129. On the first and fourth Friday and Saturday of each month the calender of private bills shall be called over, (the chairman of the Committee of the Whole House commencing the call where he left off the previous day,) and the bills to the passage of which no objection shall then be made shall be first considered and disposed of.-January 25, 1839. But when a bill is again reached, after having been once objected to, the committee shall consider and dispose of the same, unless it shall again be objected to by at least five members.March 16, 1860.

OF BILLS ON LEAVE AND RESOLUTIONS.

130. All the States and Territories shall be called for bills on leave and resolutions on each alternate Monday during each session of Congress; and, if necessary to secure the object on said days, all resolutions which shall give rise to debate shall lie over for discussion, under the rules of the House already established; and the whole of said days shall be appropriated to bills on leave and resolutions, until all the

States and Territories are called through.-February 6, 1838. And the Speaker shall first call the States and Territories for bills on leave; and all bills so introduced during the first hour after the journal is read shall be referred, without debate, to their appropriate committees Provided, however, That a bill so introduced and referred shall not be brought back into the House upon a motion to reconsider.March 16, 1860.

OF PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS.

131. Members having petitions and memorials to present may hand them to the Clerk, indorsing the same with their names, and the reference or disposition to be made thereof; and such petitions and memorials shall be entered on the journal, subject to the control and direction of the Speaker; and if any petition or memorial be so handed in which, in the judgment of the Speaker, is excluded by the rules, the same shall be returned to the member from whom it was received.-March 29, 1842.

OF THE PREVIOUS QUESTION.

132. The previous question shall be in this form: "Shall the main question be now put?"-April 7, 1789. It shall only be admitted when demanded by a majority of the members present-February 24, 1812; and its effects shall be to put an end to all debate, and to bring the House to a direct vote upon a motion to commit, if such motion shall have been made; and if this motion does not prevail, then upon amendments reported by the committee, if any; then-August 5, 1848-upon pending amendments, and then upon the main question.January 14, 1840. But its only effect, if a motion to postpone is pending, shall be to bring the House to a vote upon such motion. Whenever the House shall refuse to order the main question, the consideration of the subject shall be resumed as though no motion for the previous question had been made. The House may also, at any time, on motion seconded by a majority of the members present, close all debate upon a pending amendment, or an amendment thereto, and cause the question to be put thereon; and this shall not preclude any further amendment or debate upon the bill. A call of the House shall not be in order after the previous question is seconded, unless it shall appear, upon an actual count by the Speaker, that no quorum is present.-March 16, 1860.

133. On a previous question there shall be no debate. -December 17, 1805. All incidental questions of order arising after a motion is made for the previous question, and pending such motion, shall be decided, whether on appeal or otherwise, without debate.-September 15, 1837.

OF ADMISSION ON THE FLOOR.

134. No person except members of the Senate, their secretary, heads of departments, the President's private secretary, foreign min

isters, the governor for the time being of any State, senators and representatives elect, and judges of the Supreme Court of the United States and of the Court of Claims, shall be admitted within the hall of the House of Representatives.-March 19, 1860.

OF REPORTERS.

135. Stenographers and reporters, other than the official reporters of the House, wishing to take down the debates, may be admitted by the Speaker to the reporters' gallery over the Speaker's chair, but not on the floor of the House; but no person shall be allowed the privilege of said gallery under the character of stenographer or reporter without a written permission of the Speaker, specifying the part of said gallery assigned to him; nor shall said stenographer or reporter be admitted to said gallery unless he shall state in writing for what paper or papers he is employed to report; nor shall he be so admitted, or, if admitted, be suffered to retain his seat, if he shall be or become an agent to prosecute any claim pending before Congress; and the Speaker shall give his written permission with this condition. December 23, 1857.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS OF THE SESSION.

136. After six days from the commencement of a second or subsequent session of any Congress, all bills, resolutions, and reports which originated in the House, and at the close of the next preceding session remained undetermined, shall be resumed and acted on in the same manner as if an adjournment had not taken place.-March 17, 1848. And all business before committees of the House at the end of one session shall be resumed at the commencement of the next session of the same Congress as if no adjournment had taken place.— March 16, 1860.

MISCELLANEOUS.

137. Whenever confidential communications are received from the President of the United States, the House shall be cleared of all persons, except the members, Clerk, Sergeant-at-arms, and Doorkeeper, and so continue during the reading of such communications, and (unless otherwise directed by the House) during all debates and proceedings to be had thereon. And when the Speaker, or any other member, shall inform the House that he has communications to make which he conceives ought to be kept secret, the House shall, in like manner, be cleared till the communication be made; the House shall then determine whether the matter communicated requires secrecy or not, and take order accordingly.-February 17, 1792, and December 30, 1793.

138. The rule for paying witnesses summoned to appear before this House, or either of its committees, shall be as follows: For each day a witness shall attend, the sum of two dollars; for each mile he

shall travel in coming to or going from the place of examination, the sum of ten cents each way but nothing shall be paid for travelling home when the witness has been summoned at the place of trial.June 5, 1832.

139. Maps accompanying documents shall not be printed, under the general order to print, without the special direction of the House.— March 2, 1837; September 11, 1837.

140. No extra compensation shall be allowed to any officer or messenger, page, laborer, or other person in the service of the House, or engaged in or about the public grounds or buildings; and no person shall be an officer of the House, or continue in its employment, who shall be an agent for the prosecution of any claim against the gov ernment, or be interested in such claim otherwise than an original claimant; and it shall be the duty of the Committee of Accounts to inquire into and report to the House any violation of this rule.March 8, 1842.

141. When the reading of a paper is called for, and the same is objected to by any member, it shall be determined by a vote of the House.-November 13, 1794.

142. When a question is postponed indefinitely, the same shall not be acted upon again during the session. -December 17, 1805.

143. Every order, resolution or vote, to which the concurrence of the Senate shall be necessary, shall be read to the House, and laid on the table, on a day preceding that in which the same shall be moved, unless the House shall otherwise expressly allow.-April 7, 1789.

144. The rules of parliamentary practice comprised in Jefferson's Manual shall govern the House in all cases to which they are applicable, and in which they are not inconsistent with the standing rules and orders of the House, and joint rules of the Senate and House of Representatives.-September 15, 1837.

145. No standing rule or order of the House shall be rescinded or changed without one day's notice being given of the motion therefor November 13, 1794; nor shall any rule be suspended, except by a vote of at least two-thirds of the members present-March 13, 1822; nor shall the order of business, as established by the rules, be postponed or changed, except by a vote of at least two-thirds of the members present; nor shall the Speaker entertain a motion to suspend the rules, except during the last ten days of the session, and on Monday of every week at the expiration of one hour after the journal is read.April 26, 1828.

146. All elections of officers of the House, including the Speaker, shall be conducted in accordance with these rules, so far as the same are applicable; and, pending the election of a Speaker, the Clerk shall preserve order and decorum, and shall decide all questions of order that may arise, subject to appeal to the House.-March 19, 1860.

147. These rules shall be the rules of the House of Representatives of the present and succeeding Congresses, unless otherwise ordered.-March 19, 1860.

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