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United States Congress; Rules for Procedure in the U.S. Congress
Topic Started: Jul 31 2015, 03:22 AM (13 Views)
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U.S. Senate

1. Election of Officers.
A) The majority party of the United States Senate shall nominate members to hold the position of President Pro Tempore. There will be a 48 hour nominating period held by the Clerk, a member may nominate themselves but must receive a second from a fellow colleague member of the Senate. A member may nominate a colleague member of the Senate, but that colleague must accept such the respective nomination to be eligible for the voting process. The voting process will be held by the Clerk, a 48 hour period will be set. An aye vote followed by the respective colleagues last name shall be a valid vote and upon the 48 hour period, the respective member upon which received the majorities of the valid votes will be elected as the official President Pro Tempore.
The respective parties, Democrat and Republican shall hold official closed process of nominations and voting for 1) the Senate Majority Leader, whether Democrat or Republican depending on who holds respective majorities, whom shall hold the official procedural Senate spokesperson for their respective party and furthermore the Majority party of the Senate; 2) the Senate Majority Whip, whether Democrat or Republican depending on who holds respective majorities, whom shall gather votes from their respective parties' members on all articles of legislation and shall establish a system within the party in closed process to officially record such gathering; 3) the Senate Minority Leader, whether Democrat or Republican depending on who holds respective minorities, whom shall hold the official procedural Senate spokesperson for their respective party and furthermore the Minority party of the Senate; 4) the Senate Minority Whip, whether Democrat or Republican depending on who holds respective minorities, whom shall gather votes from their respective parties' members on all articles of legislation and shall establish a system within the party in closed process to officially record such gathering.

2. Standing Committees
A) There shall be established five respective committees in the Unites States Senate: The Domestic Affairs Committee, The Judiciary Committee, The Foreign and Intelligence Committee, The Commerce Committee.
B) These committees shall consist of 5 members, three of which shall be appointed by the Majority party, and two of which shall be appointed by the Minority party. Of these three from the Majority, One shall be appointed by their respective parties to be the Chairman of such committee. Of these from the Minority, One shall be appointed by their respective parties to be Ranking Member of such committee.

3. Procedural, Parliamentary Motions.
I. Any Amendment to the Senate Parliamentary Rules must be submitted in writing, in the same procedure as is used for legislation, and shall be handled in the same manner as a Resolution of the Senate.

II. As each session of the Senate does not have the authority to bind any future Houses, these rules shall be incorporated by reference as part of the Senate Rules, and must be affirmed at the beginning of each session to remain in operation, in accord with the Rules of the Senate.

III. The following motions are recognized in accordance with the Senate Parliamentary Rules and the Rules of the Senate, and are listed by section in order of precedence, with the highest precedence being Section A.

A. The following Points are allowed in the Senate. The Chair is encouraged to guide members to the proper form of the motion. None of these points are debatable or amendable. The Chair may rule the motion out of order, but the Chair's decision may be appealed.
1. Point of Order - "Mr./Madam Chairman/Chairwoman, I rise to a Point of Order." This point is to bring to the Chair's attention a violation of these rules, which should be promptly stated following the initial statement.
2. Point of Information - "Mr./Madam Chairman/Chair, I rise to a Point of Information." This point should be followed by a question relevant to the matter at hand. It is not, nor should it be used, as a method of debate.
3. Point of Parliamentary Procedure - "Mr./Madam Chairman/Chair, I rise to a Point of Parliamentary Procedure." This point should be followed by a question, either as to the relevant parliamentary procedure to be used to accomplish an objective, or to confirm that the proper parliamentary procedure is being followed when there is no clear violation of the House Parliamentary Rules.
4. Point of Personal Privilege - "Mr./Madam Chairman/Chair, I rise to a Point of Personal Privilege." The nature of the privilege being violated should then be stated. This point is applicable when another member or the Chair gives insult, belittles, or creates a hostile environment for a member. This also applies if the CHair repeatedly ignores a member's or rules out of order a specific Senator's properly seconded motions.
B. Motion to Recess - "Mr./Madam President, I move to recess the Senate until (specific date and time)."

May only be made by the Senate Majority Leader, or Majority Whip.
Requires a second by the Senate Minority Leader or Minority Whip.
Not amendable or debatable.
Not subject to Cloture.
Requires majority to pass.
May be made without a specific date and time, in which case the Vice-President or President Pro Tempore may call the Senate back into session at a time and place he/she designates.
If passed, no further new business may be brought up, and all current business is automatically tabled, to be automatically taken back up when the Senate reconvenes.
The Senate may not recess for more then three days if the House is in session.
C. Appeal - Any ruling of the Chair may be appealed. "I appeal the ruling of the Chair."
1. An appeal of a ruling by a Deputy President Pro Tempore shall be ruled upon by the President Pro Tempore or the President. An appeal of a ruling by the President or President Pro Tempore shall be voted upon by the House as a whole.
2. An appeal is only debatable if the matter being appealed was debatable. An appeal is never amendable.
3. Debate, if allowed, shall only last 48 hours, and the vote shall last 24 hours.
4. The time allowance for the matter upon the Floor, if appropriate, shall be adjusted to allow for the Appeal.
5. A motion to appeal must be the next motion made by the affected party after the ruling is issued, and must be an issue which may be remedied. It is a moot point, for example, to appeal a decision regarding a vote after the vote has been finalized and the legislation sent out of the House.
D. Suspension of the Rules.
1. This may be stated in one of three ways.
a. "I move to suspend the rules prohibiting..."(state the desired action)
b. "I move to suspend the rules and pass..."(resolution or legislation).
c. "I ask unanimous consent to..."(state desired action).
2. The motion is always denied if the votes against the motion are equal to the minority protected by the rule(s) being suspended. If, for example, a rule being suspended requires a 3/4 majority, then an objection of 1/4 of those voting is sufficient to block the motion, even though normally only a 2/3 majority is required. If a rule is designed to protect a single member who is absent from the proceedings, as an example, then it can not be suspended. Nor can higher legal authority (active laws and the Constitution, as two examples) be suspended under any circumstances.
3. A motion to suspend the rules, phrased as in C(1)a and C(1)b, does require a second, and at a minimum a 2/3 majority to pass, although as noted in part 2 of this section, the actual requirement may be higher.
4. A motion to suspend as phrased in C(1)c, is not debatable and does not require a vote. However, if there is any objection to it within the 24 hours after the motion is recognized by the Chair, then the motion fails.
E. Division of the Question
If a legislative bill, resolution, or amendment is before the Senate which is of such a nature that a portion of it may be removed and leave an enactable proposal, then before debate begins a member may "Move to Divide the Question."
1.The bill must be written so that the only changes required would be to insert "Resolved, that" or "Ordered, that" in front of each division; if this is not possible, then the bill can not be divided.
2. The motion is not debatable nor amendable, and requires a majority to pass.
3. Multiple versions may be offered of the motion, in which case they should be voted upon from the largest number of parts to the least, and from the first motion to the last within each group.
4. The motion, when offered, must specify how the bill or amendment is to be divided.
5. If this motion is passed, then each division is debated and voted upon separately.
F. To Lay/Remove From the Table
The motion is phrased "I move to lay the question on the table" or "I move to remove from the table..." followed by the motion to be taken up. The motion is not debatable or amendable. A 2/3 majority sets the question, with all pending motions and amendments, aside for consideration at an unspecified later date; a 2/3 majority is required to take it back up, or remove it from the table.
G. Cloture - "I move for Cloture on..."(specify motion or motions). Not amendable or debatable, and requires a 60 vote majority. If passed, ends debate and requires an immediate vote on the matter specified. Should there be other motions outstanding, such as amendments, then they must be voted on in proper sequence.
H. To commit or refer to committee - "I move the bill be referred to a Committee of Five, to be appointed by the Chair, to report back on October 31st." Not amendable. Not debatable. Majority to pass. The motion may be used to refer to a Committee of the Whole. The counterpart to take a bill away from a committee is "I move to discharge the committee from further consideration", which is also not debatable and not amendable, requires a majority vote, and returns the bill to the House's immediate agenda.
I. To amend - may be used to add, strike, or substitute from a bill. A bill's findings are not amendable. Conflicting amendments may not be considered simultaneously. Debatable. Majority required to pass. An amendment may be amended, but an amendment to am amendment may not be. Majority required to pass.
J. Main bill or motion. Amendable and debatable. Requires majority vote to pass except for a Presidential Veto Override or a Joint Resolution to Amend the US Constitution, which requires a 2/3 majority to pass.
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