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Home > Legislative Activities > The Legislative Process > Rules > Rule XIII

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RULE XIII: CALENDARS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS 

Calendars 
1. (a) All business reported by committees shall be referred to one of the following three calendars:

(1) A Calendar of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, to which shall be referred public bills and public resolutions raising revenue, involving a tax or charge on the people, directly or indirectly making appropriations of money or property or requiring such appropriations to be made, authorizing payments out of appropriations already made, releasing any liability to the United States for money or property, or referring a claim to the Court of Claims.
(2) A House Calendar, to which shall be referred all public bills and public resolutions not requiring referral to the Calendar of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.
(3) A Private Calendar as provided in clause 5 of rule XV, to which shall be referred all private bills and private resolutions.

(b) There is established a Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees as provided in clause 2 of rule XV. 

Filing and printing of reports
2. (a)(1) Except as provided in subparagraph (2), all reports of committees (other than those filed from the floor as privileged) shall be delivered to the Clerk for printing and reference to the proper calendar under the direction of the Speaker in accordance with clause 1. The title or subject of each report shall be entered on the Journal and printed in the Congressional Record. (2) A bill or resolution reported adversely shall be laid on the table unless a committee to which the bill or resolution was referred requests at the time of the report its referral to an appropriate calendar under clause 1 or unless, within three days thereafter, a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner makes such a request.

(b)(1) It shall be the duty of the chairman of each committee to report or cause to be reported promptly to the House a measure or matter approved by the committee and to take or cause to be taken steps necessary to bring the measure or matter to a vote. (2) In any event, the report of a committee on a measure that has been approved by the committee shall be filed within seven calendar days (exclusive of days on which the House is not in session) after the day on which a written request for the filing of the report, signed by a majority of the members of the committee, has been filed with the clerk of the committee. The clerk of the committee shall immediately notify the chairman of the filing of such a request. This subparagraph does not apply to a report of the Committee on Rules with respect to a rule, joint rule, or order of business of the House, or to the reporting of a resolution of inquiry addressed to the head of an executive department.

(c) All supplemental, minority, or additional views filed under clause 2(l) of rule XI by one or more members of a committee shall be included in, and shall be a part of, the report filed by the committee with respect to a measure or matter. When time guaranteed by clause 2(l) of rule XI has expired (or, if sooner, when all separate views have been received), the committee may arrange to file its report with the Clerk not later than one hour after the expiration of such time. This clause and provisions of clause 2(l) of rule XI do not preclude the immediate filing or printing of a committee report in the absence of a timely request for the opportunity to file supplemental, minority, or additional views as provided in clause 2(l) of rule XI.

Content of reports 
3. (a)(1) Except as provided in subparagraph (2), the report of a committee on a measure or matter shall be printed in a single volume that—

(A) shall include all supplemental, minority, or additional views that have been submitted by the time of the filing of the report; and
(B) shall bear on its cover a recital that any such supplemental, minority, or additional views (and any material submitted under paragraph (c)(3)) are included as part of the report.

(2) A committee may file a supplemental report for the correction of a technical error in its previous report on a measure or matter. A supplemental report only correcting errors in the depiction of record votes under paragraph (b) may be filed under this subparagraph and shall not be subject to the requirement in clause 4 or clause 6 concerning the availability of reports.

(b) With respect to each record vote on a motion to report a measure or matter of a public nature, and on any amendment offered to the measure or matter, the total number of votes cast for and against, and the names of members voting for and against, shall be included in the committee report. The preceding sentence does not apply to votes taken in executive session by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

(c) The report of a committee on a measure that has been approved by the committee shall include, separately set out and clearly identified, the following:

(1) Oversight findings and recommendations under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X.

(2) The statement required by section 308(a) of the Congressional Bud get Act of 1974, except that an estimate of new budget authority shall include, when practicable, a comparison of the total estimated funding level for the relevant programs to the appropriate levels under current law.

(3) An estimate and comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 if timely submitted to the committee before the filing of the report.

(4) A statement of general performance goals and objectives, including outcome-related goals and objectives, for which the measure authorizes funding.

(d) Each report of a committee on a public bill or public joint resolution shall contain the following:

(1) A statement citing the specific powers granted to Congress in the Constitution to enact the law proposed by the bill or joint resolution.

(2)(A) An estimate by the committee of the costs that would be incurred in carrying out the bill or joint resolution in the fiscal year in which it is reported and in each of the five fiscal years following that fiscal year (or for the authorized duration of any program authorized by the bill or joint resolution if less than five years); (B) a comparison of the estimate of costs described in subdivision (A) made by the committee with any estimate of such costs made by a Government agency and submitted to such committee; and (C) when practicable, a comparison of the total estimated funding level for the relevant programs with the appropriate levels under current law.

(3)(A) In subparagraph (2) the term ‘‘Government agency’’ includes any department, agency, establishment, wholly owned Government corporation, or instrumentality of the Federal Government or the government of the District of Columbia. (B) Subparagraph (2) does not apply to the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on House Administration, the Committee on Rules, or the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, and does not apply when a cost estimate and comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 has been included in the report under paragraph (c)(3).

(e)(1) Whenever a committee reports a bill or joint resolution proposing to repeal or amend a statute or part thereof, it shall include in its report or in an accompanying document—

(A) the text of a statute or part thereof that is proposed to be repealed; and

(B) a comparative print of any part of the bill or joint resolution proposing to amend the statute and of the statute or part thereof proposed to be amended, showing by appropriate typographical devices the omissions and insertions proposed.

(2) If a committee reports a bill or joint resolution proposing to repeal or amend a statute or part thereof with a recommendation that the bill or joint resolution be amended, the comparative print required by subparagraph (1) shall reflect the changes in existing law proposed to be made by the bill or joint resolution as proposed to be amended.

(f)(1) A report of the Committee on Appropriations on a general appropriation bill shall include—

(A) a concise statement describing the effect of any provision of the accompanying bill that directly or indirectly changes the application of existing law; and
(B) a list of all appropriations contained in the bill for expenditures not currently authorized by law for the period concerned (excepting classified intelligence or national security programs, projects, or activities), along with a statement of the last year for which such expenditures were authorized, the level of expenditures authorized for that year, the actual level of expenditures for that year, and the level of appropriations in the bill for such expenditures.

(2) Whenever the Committee on Appropriations reports a bill or joint resolution including matter specified in clause 1(b)(2) or (3) of rule X, it shall include—

(A) in the bill or joint resolution, separate headings for ‘‘Rescissions’’ and ‘‘Transfers of Unexpended Balances’’; and
(B) in the report of the committee, a separate section listing such rescissions and transfers.

(g) Whenever the Committee on Rules reports a resolution proposing to repeal or amend a standing rule of the House, it shall include in its report or in an accompanying document—

(1) the text of any rule or part thereof that is proposed to be repealed; and
(2) a comparative print of any part of the resolution proposing to amend the rule and of the rule or part thereof proposed to be amended, showing by appropriate typographical devices the omissions and insertions proposed.

(h)(1) It shall not be in order to consider a bill or joint resolution reported by the Committee on Ways and Means that proposes to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 unless—

(A) the report includes a tax complexity analysis prepared by the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation in accordance with section 4022(b) of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998; or
(B) the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means causes such a tax complexity analysis to be printed in the Congressional Record before consideration of the bill or joint resolution.

(2)(A) It shall not be in order to consider a bill or joint resolution reported by the Committee on Ways and Means that proposes to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 unless—

(i) the report includes a macroeconomic impact analysis;
(ii) the report includes a statement from the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation explaining why a macroeconomic impact analysis is not calculable; or
(iii) the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means causes a macroeconomic impact analysis to be printed in the Congressional Record before consideration of the bill or joint resolution.

(B) In subdivision (A), the term ‘‘macroeconomic impact analysis’’ means—

(i) an estimate prepared by the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation of the changes in economic output, employment, capital stock, and tax revenues expected to result from enactment of the proposal; and
(ii) a statement from the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation identifying the critical assumptions and the source of data underlying that estimate.

Availability of reports 
4. (a)(1) Except as specified in subparagraph (2), it shall not be in order to consider in the House a measure or matter reported by a committee until the third calendar day (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays except when the House is in session on such a day) on which each report of a committee on that measure or matter has been available to Members, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner. (2) Subparagraph (1) does not apply to—

(A) a resolution providing a rule, joint rule, or order of business reported by the Committee on Rules considered under clause 6;
(B) a resolution providing amounts from the applicable accounts described in clause 1(j)(1) of rule X reported by the Committee on House Administration considered under clause 6 of rule X;
(C) a resolution presenting a question of the privileges of the House reported by any committee;
(D) a measure for the declaration of war, or the declaration of a national emergency, by Congress; and
(E) a measure providing for the disapproval of a decision, determination, or action by a Government agency that would become, or continue to be, effective unless disapproved or otherwise invalidated by one or both Houses of Congress. In this subdivision the term ‘‘Government agency’’ includes any department, agency, establishment, wholly owned Government corporation, or instrumentality of the Federal Government or of the government of the District of Columbia.

(b) A committee that reports a measure or matter shall make every reasonable effort to have its hearings thereon (if any) printed and available for distribution to Members, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner before the consideration of the measure or matter in the House.

(c) A general appropriation bill reported by the Committee on Appropriations may not be considered in the House until the third calendar day (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays except when the House is in session on such a day) on which printed hearings of the Committee on Appropriations thereon have been available to Members, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner.

Privileged reports, generally 
5. (a)The following committees shall have leave to report at any time on the following matters, respectively:

(1) The Committee on Appropriations, on general appropriation bills and on joint resolutions continuing appropriations for a fiscal year after September 15 in the preceding fiscal year.
(2) The Committee on the Budget, on the matters required to be reported by such committee under titles III and IV of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
(3) The Committee on House Administration, on enrolled bills, on contested elections, on matters referred to it concerning printing for the use of the House or the two Houses, on expenditure of the applicable accounts of the House described in clause 1(j)(1) of rule X, and on matters relating to preservation and availability of noncurrent records of the House under rule VII.
(4) The Committee on Rules, on rules, joint rules, and the order of business.
(5) The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, on resolutions recommending action by the House with respect to a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House as a result of an investigation by the committee relating to the official conduct of such Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee.

(b) A report filed from the floor as privileged under paragraph (a) may be called up as a privileged question by direction of the reporting committee, subject to any requirement concerning its availability to Members, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner under clause 4 or concerning the timing of its consideration under clause 6.

Privileged reports by the Committee on Rules 
6. (a) A report by the Committee on Rules on a rule, joint rule, or the order of business may not be called up for consideration on the same day it is presented to the House except—

(1) when so determined by a vote of two-thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being present;
(2) in the case of a resolution proposing only to waive a requirement of clause 4 or of clause 8 of rule XXII concerning the availability of reports; or
(3) during the last three days of a session of Congress.

(b) Pending the consideration of a report by the Committee on Rules on a rule, joint rule, or the order of business, the Speaker may entertain one motion that the House adjourn. After the result of such a motion is announced, the Speaker may not entertain any other dilatory motion until the report shall have been disposed of.

(c) The Committee on Rules may not report—

(1) a rule or order proposing that business under clause 6 of rule XV be set aside by a vote of less than twothirds of the Members voting, a quorum being present; or
(2) a rule or order that would prevent the motion to recommit a bill or joint resolution from being made as provided in clause 2(b) of rule XIX, including a motion to recommit with instructions to report back an amendment otherwise in order, if offered by the Minority Leader or a designee, except with respect to a Senate bill or resolution for which the text of a House-passed measure has been substituted.

(d) The Committee on Rules shall present to the House reports concerning rules, joint rules, and the order of business, within three legislative days of the time when they are ordered. If such a report is not considered immediately, it shall be referred to the calendar. If such a report on the calendar is not called up by the member of the committee who filed the report within seven legislative days, any member of the committee may call it up as a privileged question on the day after the calendar day on which the member announces to the House his intention to do so. The Speaker shall recognize a member of the committee who rises for that purpose.

(e) An adverse report by the Committee on Rules on a resolution proposing a special order of business for the consideration of a public bill or public joint resolution may be called up as a privileged question by a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner on a day when it is in order to consider a motion to discharge committees under clause 2 of rule XV.

(f) If the House has adopted a resolution making in order a motion to consider a bill or resolution, and such a motion has not been offered within seven calendar days thereafter, such a motion shall be privileged if offered by direction of all reporting committees having initial jurisdiction of the bill or resolution.

(g) Whenever the Committee on Rules reports a resolution providing for the consideration of a measure, it shall (to the maximum extent possible) specify in the resolution the object of any waiver of a point of order against the measure or against its consideration.

Resolutions of inquiry
7. A report on a resolution of inquiry addressed to the head of an executive department may be filed from the floor as privileged. If such a resolution is not reported to the House within 14 legislative days after its introduction, a motion to discharge a committee from its consideration shall be privileged.

 


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