HRES 688 · 109th Congress 2005–2007, ended

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to require that legislation and conference reports be available on the Internet for 72 hours before consideration by the House, and for other purposes.

Fact sheet

Latest action · Feb 16, 2006 Referred to the House Committee on Rules.

Progress

Where this resolution reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried. A simple resolution is the business of one chamber alone: it is not sent to the other chamber or to the President, and does not become law.

  1. IntroducedFeb 16, 2006
  2. Agreed to in HouseNot reached

Summary

Amends rule XIII (Calendars and Committee Reports) of the Rules of the House of Representatives to make it out of order, with certain exceptions, for the House to consider a measure or matter until 72 hours after its text (and any accompanying reports) have been made available to Members and the general public (excluding Saturdays, Sunday and holidays when the House is not in session).

Requires such text to be posted continuously, during the 72 hours, on the Internet in an accessible, searchable format.

Prohibits the House from considering a general appropriations bill, with certain exceptions, until at least 72 hours (currently, three calendar days) after the printed hearings of the Committee on Appropriations related to it have been available to Members.

Requires privileged reports to be made available to the general public before their consideration in the House.

Amends rule XXII (House and Senate Relations) to require, before House consideration, the same 72 hour availability to Members and the general public, including Internet accessibility, of the text of conference reports, accompanying joint explanatory statements, and Senate amendments reported by a conference committee in disagreement.

Declares that nothing in this resolution shall be interpreted to require or permit the declassification or posting on the Internet of classified information. Requires such classified information to be made available to Members in a timely manner.

Expresses the sense of the House that the House Committee on Rules should develop standardized policies and procedures to require that proposed amendments major in size, scope, or cost (except those offered under an open rule) be posted on the Internet for an appropriate number of hours.

Cosponsors 36

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 28, 2006 to Sep 12, 2006.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
D-MDChris Van HollenMar 28, 2006
D-OREarl BlumenauerMar 28, 2006
D-MSGene TaylorMar 28, 2006
D-TNJim CooperMar 28, 2006
D-NYCarolyn B. MaloneyApr 5, 2006
D-TXCharles A. GonzalezApr 5, 2006
D-KSDennis MooreApr 5, 2006
D-MOEmanuel CleaverApr 5, 2006
D-UTJim MathesonApr 5, 2006
D-CTJohn B. LarsonApr 5, 2006
D-NYJoseph CrowleyApr 5, 2006
D-ILRahm EmanuelApr 5, 2006
D-CTRosa L. DeLauroApr 5, 2006
D-NJRush HoltApr 5, 2006
R-ILTimothy V. JohnsonApr 5, 2006

Actions 2

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Feb 16, 2006Introduced in House
  2. Feb 16, 2006Referred to the House Committee on Rules.

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Congress.

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