[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 105th Congress]
[105th Congress]
[House Document 104-272]
[Rules of the House of Representatives]
[Pages 541-543]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
Rule XII.
resident commissioner and delegates.
Sec. 740. Powers and privileges of Resident Commissioner and
Delegates as to committee service. |
The Resident Commissioner to the
United States from Puerto Rico and each Delegate to the House shall be
elected to serve on standing committees in the same manner as Members of
the House and shall possess in such committees the same powers and
privileges as the other Members.
|
[[Page 542]]
Delegate from the Territories of
Guam and the Virgin Islands pursuant to Public Law 92-271 (86 Stat.
118). The office of Delegate from American Samoa was established by
Public Law 95-556 (92 Stat. 2078) and was first filled by the general
Federal election of 1980. The title of the rule was amended in the 102d
Congress amended to reflect the current membership in the House of the
Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico and all Delegates (H. Res. 5, Jan.
3, 1991, p. 39). The rule was completely revised again in the 103d
Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----) to provide that each of the
Delegates and the Resident Commissioner be elected to committees of the
House on the same bases, vote in any committees on which they serve, and
vote on questions arising in the Committee of the Whole House on the
state of the Union. The latter power was affected by clause 2(d) of rule
XXIII (providing for immediate reconsideration in the House of questions
resolved in the Committee of the Whole by a margin within which the
votes of Delegates and the Resident Commissioner were decisive; see
Sec. 864b, infra).
The rule resumed this form in the 104th Congress (sec. 212, H. Res. 6,
Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----). The first form of this rule was adopted in 1871,
and it was perfected by amendments in 1876, 1880, 1887, 1892 (II, 1297),
and on January 2, 1947 (Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946), August
2, 1949 (p. 10618), and February 2, 1951 (p. 883). It was completely
revised in the 92d Congress to delete references to Delegates from the
former Territories of Alaska and Hawaii, which had achieved statehood in
1959, to add a reference to the Delegate from the District of Columbia,
an office established by Public Law 91-405 (84 Stat. 845), and to
incorporate the provisions of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970
giving the Resident Commissioner (as well as the new Delegate from the
District of Columbia) the right to vote in standing committees (H. Res.
5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144). The second clause of the rule was again
revised in the 93d Congress (H. Res. 6, Jan. 3, 1973, pp. 26-27) to
reflect the establishment of offices of
The constitutionality of granting to Delegates the right to vote in
the Committee of the Whole under this rule, as circumscribed by former
clause 2(d) of rule XXIII, was upheld based on the premise that
immediate ``revote'' where votes cast by Delegates had been decisive
rendered their votes merely symbolic and not an investment of true
legislative power (Michel v. Anderson, 14 F.3d 623 (D.C. Cir. 1994)).
The changes effected in the 103d Congress were revoked in the 104th
Congress (sec. 212, H. Res. 6, Jan. 4, 1995, p. ----).
Under an earlier practice, Delegates did not vote in committee (VI,
243); but this had not always been so (II, 1301).
Prior to the 94th Congress, a Delegate or the Resident Commissioner
could not be appointed as a conferee on bills sent to conference with
the Senate (Sept. 18, 1973, p. 30144; July 20, 1973, p. 25201), but
clause 6(h) of rule X, which became effective January 3, 1975, provided
that the Speaker may appoint the Delegates or the Resident Commissioner
to any conference committee considering legislation reported from a
committee on which they serve (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p.
34470). Clause 6(h) was further amended in the 96th Congress (H. Res. 5,
Jan. 15, 1979, pp. 7-16) to authorize the Speaker to appoint the
Resident Commissioner and Delegates to any select committee; prior to
that change they could be appointed to select committees only with the
permission of the House (Sept. 21, 1976, p. 31673). In the 103d
Congress, clause 6(h) was once again amended to authorize the Speaker to
appoint Delegates and the Resident Commissioner to serve on any
conference committee (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. ----).
[[Page 543]]
exercise in those committees on which he serves the same powers as other
members, including the right to vote.
The Resident Commissioner, who under the rules of the 91st and earlier
Congresses, was designated as an additional member of the Committees on
Agriculture, Armed Services, and Interior and Insular Affairs, is now
elected to committees in the same fashion as are other Members and may
The office of Delegate was established by ordinance of the Continental
Congress and confirmed by a law of Congress (I, 400, 421). The nature of
the office has been the subject of much discussion (I, 400, 403, 473);
and except as provided by law (I, 431, 526) the qualifications of the
Delegate also have been a matter of discussion (I, 421, 423, 469, 470,
473). A territory or district must be organized by law before the House
will admit a Delegate (I, 405, 407, 411, 412).
The law provides that on the floor of the House a Delegate may debate
(II, 1290), and he may in debate call a Member to order (II, 1295). He
may make any motion which a Member may make except the motion to
reconsider (II, 1291, 1292). A Delegate may make a point of order (VI,
240). A Delegate has even moved an impeachment (II, 1303). He may be
appointed a teller (II, 1302); but the law forbids him to vote (II,
1290). He has been recognized to object to the consideration of a bill
(VI, 241), to a unanimous-consent request to concur in a Senate
amendment (June 29, 1984, p. 20267), and has made reports for committees
(July 1, 1958, p. 12870). The rights and prerogatives of a Delegate in
parliamentary matters are not limited to legislation affecting his own
territory (VI, 240).
At the organization of the House, the Delegates and Resident
Commissioner are sworn (I, 400, 401); but the Clerk does not put them on
the roll (I, 61, 62). In the 103d Congress on recorded votes in the
Committee of the Whole, their names were listed alphabetically with the
names of Members (Feb. 3, 1993, p. ----).
A Delegate resigns in a communication addressed to the Speaker (II,
1304). He may be arrested and censured for disorderly conduct (II,
1305), but there has been disagreement as to whether he should be
expelled by a majority or two-thirds vote (I, 469).
The privileges of the floor with the right to debate were extended to
Resident Commissioners in the 60th Congress (VI, 244). Prior to the
independence of the Philippines it was represented in the House by
Resident Commissioners.
The first form of the rule with reference to the Resident Commissioner
was adopted in 1904 (II, 1306). The Act of May 17, 1932, changed the
name of Porto Rico to Puerto Rico (48 U.S.C. 731a).