Adopting rules for the One Hundred Eleventh Congress.

Summary

Adopts the Rules of the House of Representatives for the 110th Congress as the Rules for the 111th Congress, with amendments. Requires the House Inspector General to provide investigative and advisory services to the House and joint entities in a manner consistent with government-wide standards. Requires the Committee on Homeland Security to review and study on a primary and continuing basis all government activities, programs, and organizations related to homeland security that fall within its primary legislative jurisdiction. Requires the Committee on House Administration to oversee the management of services provided to the House by the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), except those that lie within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Allows a Member to exceed the tenure limitation for Members on the Budget Committee if elected to serve a second consecutive Congress as the chair or as the ranking minority member. Eliminates the term limit for all committee and subcommittee chairs and ranking minority members. Requires a committee's chair or other authorized member to announce to the House a request for the Call of the Calendar Wednesday on the preceding legislative day. Authorizes the Chair to postpone further consideration of a measure to a time designated by the Speaker when the previous question is operating to adoption or passage of pursuant to a special rule in the House. Permits a motion to recommit a bill or joint resolution to include instructions only in the form of a direction to report an amendment or amendments back to the House forthwith (that is, the House must report on the amended measure within minutes). Repeals the prohibition against, and thus allows, holding open a record vote by electronic device for the sole purpose of reversing the vote's outcome. Makes it out of order to consider any conference report to accompany a regular general appropriation bill unless the joint explanatory statement includes: (1) a list of congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, and limited tariff benefits in the conference report or joint statement (and the name of any requesting Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or Senator) that were neither committed to the conference committee by either House nor in a report of a committee of either House on such bill or on a companion measure; or (2) a statement that the proposition contains no congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits. Revises the Pay-As-You Go (PAYGO) rules of the House with respect to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) baselines (in order to align the rules with Senate rules so that both chambers use the same CBO baselines). Allows one House-passed measure to pay for spending in a separate House-passed measure if the two are linked at the engrossment stage. Allows for emergency exceptions to PAYGO for provisions designated as emergency spending in a bill, a joint resolution, an amendment made in order as original text by a special order of business, a conference report, or an amendment between the chambers. Requires the Chair to put the question of consideration with respect to such a provision. Requires a PAYGO evaluation of any other amendments to a bill or joint resolution to disregard any designation of emergency. Revises the requirement that Members of Congress disclose negotiations for post-congressional employment by repealing the termination of such requirement upon the election of the Member's successor. Extends such disclosure requirement until the end of the departing Member's term. Replaces masculine references in the Rules of the House with gender neutral references. Continues from the 110th Congress certain similar budget-related separate orders. Waives Rule X, clause 5(d) to allow extra subcommittees for specified committees. Prohibits lobbyists from using the Member's exercise facilities. Reserves H.R. 1 through H.R. 10 for assignment by the Speaker. Declares that certain accelerated legislative procedures required by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MPDIMA) for a presidential legislative proposal in response to a Medicare funding warning shall not apply during the 111th Congress. (The MPDIMA requires, in the event that 45% or more of Medicare’s funding comes from general tax revenues for two years in a row, that the president submit, and Congress debate, legislation to slow spending.) Establishes the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Continues: (1) the House Democracy Assistance Commission; (2) the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission; (3) the Office of Congressional Ethics (treating such Office as a standing committee for purposes of hiring consultants); (4) the Empanelling Investigative Subcommittee of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct; and (5) certain authorities of the Committee on the Judiciary and the Office of General Counsel with respect to the civil action Committee on the Judiciary v. Harriet Meirs et al. Sets forth the rule for consideration of H.R. 11 (Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act) and H.R. 12 (Paycheck Fairness Act).

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4 official files

• Engrossed in House (text)

  Engrossed in House · EN · 6 January 2009

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• Engrossed in House (PDF)

  Engrossed in House · EN · 6 January 2009

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• Passed House without amendment

  summary · EN · 6 January 2009

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• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 6 January 2009

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