Rules of The House of Representatives of The United States
RULE XVII: DECORUM AND DEBATE
Decorum
1. (a) A Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner who desires to
speak or deliver a matter to the House
shall rise and respectfully address himself
to ‘‘Mr. Speaker’’ and, on being
recognized, may address the House
from any place on the floor. When invited
by the Chair, a Member, Delegate,
or Resident Commissioner may
speak from the Clerk’s desk.
(b) Remarks in debate (which may include
references to the Senate or its
Members) shall be confined to the question
under debate, avoiding personality.
Recognition
2. When two or more Members, Delegates,
or the Resident Commissioner
rise at once, the Speaker shall name
the Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner who is first to speak. A
Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner
may not occupy more than
one hour in debate on a question in the
House or in the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union
except as otherwise provided in this
rule.
Managing debate
3. (a) The Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner who calls up a
measure may open and close debate
thereon. When general debate extends
beyond one day, that Member, Delegate,
or Resident Commissioner shall
be entitled to one hour to close without
regard to the time used in opening.
(b) Except as provided in paragraph
(a), a Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner may not speak more
than once to the same question without
leave of the House.
(c) A manager of a measure who opposes
an amendment thereto is entitled
to close controlled debate thereon.
Call to order
4. (a) If a Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner, in speaking or otherwise,
transgresses the Rules of the
House, the Speaker shall, or a Member,
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner
may, call to order the offending Member,
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner,
who shall immediately sit down
unless permitted on motion of another
Member, Delegate, or the Resident
Commissioner to explain. If a Member,
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner is
called to order, the Member, Delegate,
or Resident Commissioner making the
call to order shall indicate the words
excepted to, which shall be taken down
in writing at the Clerk’s desk and read
aloud to the House.
(b) The Speaker shall decide the validity
of a call to order. The House, if
appealed to, shall decide the question
without debate. If the decision is in
favor of the Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner called to order, the
Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner
shall be at liberty to proceed,
but not otherwise. If the case requires
it, an offending Member, Delegate,
or Resident Commissioner shall
be liable to censure or such other punishment
as the House may consider
proper. A Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner may not be held to
answer a call to order, and may not be
subject to the censure of the House
therefor, if further debate or other
business has intervened.
Comportment
5. When the Speaker is putting a
question or addressing the House, a
Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner
may not walk out of or
across the Hall. When a Member, Delegate,
or Resident Commissioner is
speaking, a Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner may not pass between
the person speaking and the
Chair. During the session of the House,
a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner
may not wear a hat or remain
by the Clerk’s desk during the
call of the roll or the counting of ballots.
A person may not smoke or use a
wireless telephone or personal computer
on the floor of the House. The
Sergeant-at-Arms is charged with the
strict enforcement of this clause.
Exhibits
6. When the use of an exhibit in debate
is objected to by a Member, Delegate,
or Resident Commissioner, the
Chair, in his discretion, may submit
the question of its use to the House
without debate.
Galleries
7. During a session of the House, it
shall not be in order for a Member, Delegate,
or Resident Commissioner to introduce
to or to bring to the attention
of the House an occupant in the galleries
of the House. The Speaker may
not entertain a request for the suspension
of this rule by unanimous consent
or otherwise.
Congressional Record
8. (a) The Congressional Record shall
be a substantially verbatim account of
remarks made during the proceedings
of the House, subject only to technical,
grammatical, and typographical corrections
authorized by the Member,
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner
making the remarks.
(b) Unparliamentary remarks may be
deleted only by permission or order of
the House.
(c) This clause establishes a standard
of conduct within the meaning of
clause 3(a)(2) of rule XI.
Secret sessions
9. When confidential communications
are received from the President, or
when the Speaker or a Member, Delegate,
or Resident Commissioner informs
the House that he has communications that he believes ought to be
kept secret for the present, the House
shall be cleared of all persons except
the Members, Delegates, Resident
Commissioner, and officers of the
House for the reading of such communications,
and debates and proceedings
thereon, unless otherwise ordered by
the House.
Rule XV Rule XVI Rule XVII Rule XVIII Rule XIX Rule XX Rule XXI Rule XXII Rule XXIII Rule XXIV Rule XXV Rule XXVI
Rule XXVII Rule XXVIII