[Deschler's Precedents]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access]
[DOCID:52093c30_txt-13]
[Page 11530-11531]
CHAPTER 30
Voting
B. NON-RECORDED VOTES
Sec. 12. Determining Presence of Quorum as Related to Division Vote
Counting Those Present
Sec. 12.1 In determining the presence of a quorum on a division vote,
the Chair counts those Members who are present but not voting.
On Aug. 13, 1940,(9) Mr. William M. Colmer, of
Mississippi, called up House Resolution 406 which provided that upon
the adoption of the resolution, the House would resolve itself into the
Committee of the Whole in order to consider H.R. 8157, a bill to
establish a national land policy and to provide homesteads free of debt
for farm families.
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9. 86 Cong. Rec. 10251, 76th Cong. 3d Sess.
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Following debate on the resolution, the previous question was
ordered (10) and the question taken on the resolution;
(11) and there were on a division (demanded by Mr. Colmer)--
ayes 47, noes 123. This result prompted Mr. Knute Hill, of Washington,
to object to the vote on the ground that a quorum was not present. The
Speaker (12) counted and announced that the count disclosed
235 Members present--a quorum. The yeas and nays were requested and
refused; so the resolution was rejected.
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10. Id. at p. 10257.
11. Id. at p. 10258.
12. William B. Bankhead (Ala.).
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Sec. 12.2 The Speaker having counted a quorum after putting the
question on a pending amendment, and less than a quorum having
voted by division on the same question immediately thereafter, the
Speaker, in reply to a point of order, ruled that a
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quorum was present, and said that the Chair was not responsible if
all Members did not vote.
On Apr. 2, 1943,(13) the House entertained further
consideration of the war security bill (H.R. 2087) which was intended
to provide for the punishment of certain hostile acts against the
United States, among other things.
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13. 89 Cong. Rec. 2877, 78th Cong. 1st Sess.
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In the course of the bill's consideration, Mr. Harry Sauthoff, of
Wisconsin, offered an amendment to strike out certain portions of the
bill which he believed to present a threat to civil
liberties.(14)
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14. Id. at p. 2879.
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Following debate on the Sauthoff amendment, the question was put by
the Speaker,(15) whereupon Mr. Clare E. Hoffman, of
Michigan, raised the point of order that a quorum was not
present.(16) The Chair counted and having found 219 Members
present, proceeded to put the question. A division was had, and the
vote resulted in 62 ayes, and 112 noes.
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15. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
16. 89 Cong. Rec. 2886, 78th Cong. 1st Sess.
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Immediately thereafter, Mr. Sauthoff rose to object to the vote, as
follows:
Mr. Sauthoff: Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground
that a quorum is not present.
The Speaker: The Chair has just counted, and a quorum was
present. The Chair is not responsible if all Members in the House
do not vote. The Chair must hold that a quorum is present.
So, the amendment was rejected.(17)
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17. For a comparable instance in which a quorum was ascertained
immediately following a division vote of less than a quorum,
see 86 Cong. Rec. 10258, 76th Cong. 3d Sess., Aug. 13, 1940.
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