Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 105th Congress-Rule XXXII.Of Admission to the Floor

[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 780-785]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]

Rule XXXII.

of admission to the floor.

[[Page 781]]

subject to the provisions of clause 3
of this rule; and clerks of committees when business from their
committee is under consideration and not more than one person from a
Member's staff when that Member has an amendment under consideration,
subject to the provisions of clause 4 of this rule; and one attorney to
accompany any Member who is the respondent in an investigation
undertaken by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct when the
recommendation of such committee is under consideration; and it shall
not be in order for the Speaker to entertain a request for the
suspension of this rule or to present from the chair the request of any
Member for unanimous consent.

Sec. 919. Persons and officials admitted to the
floor during sessions of the House.

1. The persons hereinafter named, and none other,
shall be admitted to the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto,
viz: The President and Vice President of the United States and their
private secretaries, judges of the Supreme Court, Members of Congress
and Members-elect, contestants in election cases during the pendency of
their cases in the House, the Secretary and Sergeant-at-Arms of the
Senate, heads of departments, foreign ministers, governors of States,
the Architect of the Capitol, the Librarian of Congress and his
assistant in charge of the Law Library, the Resident Commissioner to the
United States from Puerto Rico, each Delegate to the House, such persons
as have, by name, received the thanks of Congress, the Parliamentarian,
elected officers and elected minority employees of the House (other than
Members); and ex-Members of the House of Representatives, former
Parliamentarians of the House, and former elected officers and elected
minority employees of the House,

This rule was subjected to many changes from 1802 until 1880 (V, 7823;
VIII, 3634), was renumbered in the 83d Congress (Jan. 3, 1953, p. 24),
and was substantially amended in the 94th Congress (H. Res. 1435, Oct.
1, 1976, pp. 35175-80). The latter amendment to the rule changed clause
1 and added clause 3 to clarify the conditions under which former
Members, officers and employees were entitled to admission to the floor.
Clause 1 was amended by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 to permit floor
privileges for one attorney for a Member-respondent during consideration
of a disciplinary resolution (P.L. 101-194, Nov. 30, 1989).

The portion of this clause which permits clerks of committees access
to the floor during the consideration of business from their committee
has been interpreted by the Speaker to allow four professional staff
members and one clerk on the floor at one time (Speaker Albert, June 8,
1972, p. 20318; Speaker O'Neill, Jan. 26, 1977, p. 2333). The
Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, section 503(3) (84 Stat. 1140,
1202; 2 U.S.C. 281b(3)) also allows two staff members of the Legislative
Counsel access to the floor to assist the committee.

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adoption of this same resolution (H. Res. 1153, 92d Cong.) but had in
fact, by custom, been permitted on the floor prior to this change in
the rule.
The rule was amended in the 92d Congress to include the Delegate from
the District of Columbia among those having the privilege of the floor
(H. Res. 5, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 144), and later in that same Congress was
again revised to permit all Delegates to enjoy the privilege (H. Res.
1153, Oct. 13, 1972, pp. 36021-23). The latter revision was necessary
because of the enactment of Public Law 92-271, which created the
positions of Delegate from Guam and Delegate from the Virgin Islands.
Officers and elected employees, both present and former, were given
floor privileges by the

The portion of the rule forbidding the Speaker to entertain requests
for suspension of the rule applies also to the Chairman of the Committee
of the Whole (V, 7285). ``Heads of departments'' means members of the
President's Cabinet, and not subordinate executive officers, and
``foreign ministers'' means ministers from foreign governments only.
``Governors of States'' does not include governors of Territories (V,
7283; VIII, 3634).

An alleged violation of the rule relating to admission to the floor
presents a question of privilege (III, 2624, 2625; VI, 579), but not a
higher question of privilege than an election case (III, 2626). In one
case where an ex-Member was abusing the privilege, he was excluded by
direction of the Speaker (V, 7288), but in another case the Speaker
declared it a matter for the House and not the Chair to consider (V,
7286). In one case an alleged abuse was inquired into by a select
committee (V, 7287). Former Members of the House do not have the
privilege of the Hall of the House nor rooms leading thereto when they
are personally interested in legislation being considered or who are in
the employ of an organization that is interested in legislation before
the Congress (Speaker Rayburn, Oct. 2, 1945, p. 9251). While former
Members of Congress are entitled to the privilege of the floor they may
not manifest approval or disapproval of the proceedings (VIII, 3635).
The Speaker announced his intention to strictly enforce the rule to
prevent a proliferation of committee and other staff on the floor (Aug.
22, 1974, p. 30027; Jan. 19, 1981, p. 402; Jan. 25, 1983, p. 224). The
Speaker announced that committee staff would be required to display
staff badges on the floor in exchange for identification cards prior to
admission to the floor (Speaker O'Neill, Jan. 21, 1986, p. 5; Jan. 5,
1993, p. ----). It is not in order to refer to persons temporarily on
the floor of the House as guests of the House, such as Members' children
(Apr. 28, 1994, p. ----; Dec. 19, 1995, p. ----; Jan. 22, 1996, p. ----
), other children (May 18, 1995, p. ----), or Senators exercising floor
privileges (May 18, 1995, p. ----).

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quest of Members, by card or in writing, may be admitted.

Sec. 920. Admission to the floor when the House
is not sitting.

2. There shall be excluded at all times from the Hall of the House of
Representatives and the cloakrooms all persons not entitled to the
privilege of the floor during the session, except that until fifteen
minutes of the hour of the meeting of the House persons employed in its
service, accredited members of the press entitled to admission to the
press gallery, and other persons on re-

This clause was adopted in 1902 (V, 7346).

Sec. 921a. Former Members and officers.

3. Ex-Members of the
House of Representatives, former Parliamentarians of the House, and
former elected officers and former elected minority employees of the
House, shall be entitled to the privilege of admission to the Hall of
the House and rooms leading thereto only if they do not have any direct
personal or pecuniary interest in any legislative measure pending before
the House or reported by any committee of the House and only if they are
not in the employ of, or do not represent, any party or organization for
the purpose of influencing, directly or indirectly, the passage, defeat
or amendment of any legislative measure pending before the House,
reported by any committee of the House or under consideration in any of
its committees or subcommittees. The Speaker shall promulgate such
regulations as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this rule
and to ensure its enforcement.

[[Page 784]]

mittee or subcommittee (Speaker pro tempore Brademas, June 7, 1978,
p. 16625). The essence of the rule is the former Member's status as
one with a personal or pecuniary interest and not whether the former
Member may have a present intent to lobby (Speaker Foley, June 9, 1994,
p. ----). Intent to lobby will be assumed where the former Member is
employed or retained as a lobbyist to influence legislative measures
as described in (2) above (Aug. 1, 1996, p. ----). The Speaker has
emphasized that the rule applies not only to the floor but also to
``rooms leading thereto,'' and has construed the latter phrase to
include the Speaker's Lobby and the cloakrooms (Speaker Gingrich,
May 24, 1995, p. ----; Aug. 1, 1996, p. ----).
This clause was added in the 94th Congress (H. Res. 1435, Oct. 1,
1976, pp. 35175-80) to consolidate in one clause and to clarify the
restrictions on admittance to the floor of former Members, officers and
employees and to give the Speaker the power to promulgate regulations to
enforce the rule. Pursuant to this authority, the Speaker issued
regulations addressing former Members (Jan. 6, 1977, p. 321; June 7,
1978, p. 16625; Speaker Foley, June 9, 1994, p. ----; Speaker Gingrich,
May 24, 1995, p. ----; Speaker Gingrich, Aug. 1, 1996, p. ----). A
former Member is not entitled to the privileges of the floor under this
clause if he (1) has a direct personal or pecuniary interest in
legislation under consideration in the House or reported by any
committee, or (2) represents any party or organization for the purpose
of influencing the disposition of legislation pending before the House,
reported by any committee or under consideration in any com-

A former Member must observe the rules of proper decorum while on the
floor; and the Chair may direct the Sergeant at Arms to assist the Chair
in maintaining such decorum (Sept. 17, 1997, p. ----). In the 105th
Congress the House adopted a resolution offered as a question of the
privileges of the House alleging indecorous behavior of a former Member
and instructing the Sergeant-at-Arms to ban the former Member from the
floor, and rooms leading thereto, until the resolution of a contested
election to which he was party (H. Res. 233, Sept. 18, 1997, p. ----).

Sec. 921b. Members' staff.

4. Persons from Member's staffs
admitted to the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto under clause
1 shall be admitted only upon prior notification to the Speaker. No such
person or clerk of a committee so admitted under clause 1 shall engage
in efforts in the Hall of the House or rooms leading thereto to
influence Members with regard to the legislation being amended. Such
persons and clerks shall remain at the desk and are admitted only to
advise the Member or committee responsible for their admission. Any such
person or clerk who violates this clause may be excluded during the
session from the Hall of the House and rooms leading thereto by the
Speaker.

[[Page 785]]

26, 1977 (p. 2333). In the 97th Congress, the
Speaker announced that personal staff of Members did not have the
privilege of the floor and that committee staff, permitted on the floor
when business from their committees is under consideration, were
required to remain unobtrusively by the committee tables (Aug. 18, 1982,
p. 21934). Staff permitted on the floor under clause 4 are not permitted
to pass out literature or otherwise attempt to influence Members in
their votes (Aug. 1, 1990, p. 21519; Sept. 27, 1995, p. ----) and may
not applaud during debate (June 14, 1995, p. ----).

This clause of the rule was added in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5,
Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70) to extend the privilege of the floor to one
person from the staff of a Member who has an amendment under
consideration, but not of a measure's sponsor or during special order
speeches. The Speaker promulgated regulations for the implementation of
this clause on January

Sec. 921c. Prohibition on distribution of campaign
contributions.

5. No Member, officer, or employee of the House of
Representatives, or any other person entitled to admission to the Hall
of the House or rooms leading thereto by this rule, shall knowingly
distribute any political campaign contribution in the Hall of the House
or rooms leading thereto.

Clause 5 was added in the 105th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 7, 1997, p.
----).