[House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House]
[Chapter 31. Morning Hour; Call of Committees]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
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CHAPTER 31 - MORNING HOUR; CALL OF COMMITTEES
HOUSE PRACTICE
Sec. 1. In General; Place in Order of Business
Sec. 2. Procedure; Business Considered
Sec. 3. Duration; Interruption or Termination
Research References
4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3118-3141
6 Cannon Sec. Sec. 751-755; 7 Cannon Sec. 944
Deschler Ch 21 Sec. 4
Manual Sec. Sec. 869, 880, 881, 951
Sec. 1 . In General; Place in Order of Business
Generally
The morning hour call of committees under rule XIV clause 4 is a
rarely used procedure for calling up for consideration in the House
bills that have been reported by committees and that are on the House
Calendar. Manual Sec. 880. Other avenues that are more frequently used
for this purpose are special rules from the Committee on Rules;
suspension of the rules; unanimous-consent agreements; and,
historically, Calendar Wednesday (all of which are discussed under
separate titles in this work). Because of the availability of these
more effective procedures, and because most reported bills are
referred to the Union Calendar, the morning hour call has become
largely obsolete. Deschler Ch 21 Sec. 4. However, since the demise of
the Consent Calendar in the 104th Congress, the morning hour remains
an alternative to suspensions as a way of disposing of relatively
noncontroversial bills on the House Calendar.
Morning-hour Debates Distinguished
In the 103d Congress the House established a procedure for
``morning-hour debates.'' Manual Sec. 951. Under this practice, which
is permitted by a standing order adopted by unanimous consent each
Congress, the House meets before the regular convening hour on Mondays
and Tuesdays to entertain up to five-minute speeches for up to one
hour from lists submitted by the Majority and Minority Leaders. No
business is permitted during such periods. See Consideration and
Debate for further discussion of this practice.
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Calendar Wednesday Distinguished
Unprivileged measures on the House or Union Calendar may be
considered when committees are called alphabetically under the
Calendar Wednesday rule. Rule XV clause 7. Calendar Wednesday is
routinely dispensed with by unanimous consent, but it may be dispensed
with by a motion that takes two-thirds to adopt. Manual Sec. 900; see
also Calendar Wednesday.
Order of Morning Hour Business; Precedence
The morning hour is listed seventh in the rule governing the order
of business in the House, coming just after ``unfinished business.''
Rule XIV clause 1. A bill once brought up on the morning hour call
continues before the House in that order of business until disposed
of, unless withdrawn by authority of the committee with jurisdiction
over the bill. 4 Hinds Sec. 3120. Such withdrawal must occur before
amendment or other House action on the bill. 4 Hinds Sec. 3129. Once
consideration of the bill has begun under the morning hour rule, the
House may not on motion postpone its further consideration to a day
certain. 4 Hinds Sec. 3164. However, other more highly privileged
matters, such as a privileged report from the Committee on Rules, may
intervene. 4 Hinds Sec. 3131.
Sec. 2 . Procedure; Business Considered
Generally
The morning hour rule provides that, after the disposition of
unfinished business, the Speaker shall call each standing committee,
``in regular order,'' and then select committees. Rule XIV clause 4.
This rule is interpreted to mean that committees are to be called
seriatim in the order in which they are listed in rule X. 6 Cannon
Sec. 751. Each committee, when named, may then call from the House
Calendar a bill it has previously reported. Rule XIV clause 4. Bills
called up under this procedure are debated under the hour rule, with
debate being confined to the bill under consideration. Deschler Ch 21
Sec. 4.2.
Business Considered During the Morning Hour
In the early practice the morning hour was used for the reception
of reports from committees. 4 Hinds Sec. 3118. In 1890 the rule was
amended so as to devote the morning hour to ``any bill'' reported by a
committee ``on a previous day'' and that is on the House Calendar.
Manual Sec. 880. Thus, the bill must actually be on the House
Calendar, and properly there, in order to be considered; a bill on the
Union Calendar may not be brought up dur
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ing the morning hour call of committees. 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3122-3126;
6 Cannon Sec. 753.
Committee Authorization
A Member calling up a bill under the morning hour rule must be
authorized to do so by the committee reporting the bill. Deschler Ch
21 Sec. 4.2. In the event of a dispute as to whether committee
authorization was in fact granted, the Speaker may decline to resolve
the matter on the ground that such an issue gives rise to a question
of fact to be resolved by the committee. 4 Hinds Sec. 3127. He may,
however, rule on the question of authorization based on statements by
the chairman and other members of the reporting committee. 4 Hinds
Sec. 3128.
Sec. 3 . Duration; Interruption or Termination
Generally
The term ``morning hour'' is to some extent misleading, since,
under the modern rule, the call of committees does not necessarily
terminate in one hour. 4 Hinds Sec. 3119. Morning hour does not
terminate until the call is exhausted, until the House adjourns or
votes to go into Committee of the Whole, or until other privileged
matter intervenes. Manual Sec. Sec. 881-883; 4 Hinds Sec. 3131. Under
the modern practice, privileged business is always available to
obviate morning hour business. After the intervening business is
concluded, the morning hour call of committees is resumed unless the
House adjourns. 4 Hinds Sec. 3133.
Motions to go Into Committee of the Whole
The House rules permit the interruption of the morning hour call
of committees by a motion to go into Committee of the Whole. Rule XIV
clause 5; see Committees of the Whole. Under this rule, the motion
lies ``after one hour'' of the call of committees, and may be made for
the purpose of taking up a particular bill. Manual Sec. 882. The
motion may interrupt the call of committees after the expiration of
one hour and may be made even sooner if the call of committees is
exhausted before the hour expires. 4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3131, 3141.
Before expiration of the hour, the Speaker has declined to permit
the call to be interrupted by a committee report or by a unanimous-
consent request to consider a bill that is not on the House Calendar.
4 Hinds Sec. Sec. 3130, 3132.