Article I, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution provides that each chamber
of Congress "determine the Rules of its Proceedings." These
resulting rules and procedures are spelled out in detailed procedural
manuals for each chamber.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, the House Committee on Rules publishes
the House Rules and Manual during the
first session of each Congress. This document is formally entitled Constitution,
Jefferson's Manual, and Rules of the House of Representatives and contains
each clause of the rules, a summary of recent changes in the House's rules,
annotated texts of the Constitution, excerpts from Thomas Jefferson's
Manual of Parliamentary Practice, and provisions of law that establish
procedures for the House to act on congressional disapproval resolutions.
In addition to the House Rules, the Representatives are governed by the
ways in which these rules have been interpreted over the years and applied
to various kinds of activities. These precedents include an exhaustive
compilation of procedural rulings and interpretations, accompanied by
summaries of the events producing them and often including relevant excerpts
from the Congressional Record.
Deschler's Precedents of
the U.S. House of Representatives identify precedents and practices
of the House from 1936-1986. Compilation of volumes 1-9 of this series
was initially undertaken by the late House parliamentarian Lewis Deschler.
Precedents and practices since 1986 have been published under the title
Deschler-Brown Precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives, which
begins with volume 10. Currently, the series is compiled by parliamentarian
emeritus William Holmes Brown.
Cannon's Precedents and Hinds'
Precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives provides an
historical overview and in-depth description of House precedents during
the period 1789 through 1936. This multivolume series was compiled by
two House parliamentarians who later became Congressmen (Clarence A.
Cannon, D-MO, and Asher S. Hinds, R-ME).
A service of the U.S. Government Printing
Office.
Last updated:
September 27, 2003
Page Name: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/precedents/index.html
