Vol. 105, No.4 May 1, 1997

"If I let you write the substance and you let me write the procedure, I'll [beat] you every time," John Dingell, former Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

• An amendment must relate to the subject matter under consideration.

• The fundamental purpose of the amendment must be germane to the fundamental purpose of the bill.

• The amendment when considered as a whole should be within the jurisdiction of the committee.

• An individual proposition may not be amended by another individual proposition even if they are of the same class.

• A specific subject may not be amended by a provision general in nature.

• A general subject may be amended by specific propositions of the same class.

An amendment must be germane to the matter it seeks to amend. If it is not, it is subject to a point of order. The Chair rules on questions of germaneness.

Calendars of the United States House of Representatives And History of Legislation is published and delivered to every Congressional office on a daily basis when the House is in session. It contains a wealth of information concerning the business of the House and the Senate.

Measures reported from committee are assigned by the Speaker to one of four regularly used calendars, namely the Union Calendar, the House Calendar, the Private Calendar and the Corrections Calendar. These calendars list bills in the chronological order in which they are reported by the various committees.

1. The Union Calendar - Clause 1 of Rule XIII (First): "A Calendar of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, to which shall be referred all bills raising revenue, general appropriations bills, and bills of a public character directly or indirectly appropriating money or property." All legislation dealing with raising, authorizing or spending money is assigned to this calendar.

2. The House Calendar - Clause 1 of Rule XIII (Second): "A House calendar, to which shall be referred all bills of a public character not raising revenue nor directly or indirectly appropriating money or property." Non-money measures and other measures dealing with internal House matters are put on this calendar.

3. The Private Calendar - Clause 1 of Rule XIII (Third): "A Calendar of the Committee of the Whole House, to which shall be referred all bills of a private character." Bills dealing with the relief of a private nature, those not of general application and usually dealing with identifiable private persons, are assigned to this calendar. Bills on this calendar are considered on special calendar days.

4. The Corrections Calendar - Clause 4 of Rule XIII: "After a measure has been favorably reported and placed on the Union or House Calendar, the Speaker may, after consultation with the Minority Leader, file with the Clerk a notice requesting that such bill also be placed on a special calendar to be known as the `Corrections Calendar'." Certain noncontroversial bills are assigned by the Speaker, after consultation with the bipartisan Corrections advisory panel, to this calendar. Measures so referred are also in order on special calendar days, namely the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. Measures that are rejected (fail to receive the required 3/5^th vote) are placed back on the Union or House Calendar without prejudice.

CALENDARS also includes the Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees.

Clause 3 of Rule XXVII: "A Member may present to the Clerk a motion in writing to discharge a committee from consideration of a public bill or resolution which has been referred to it thirty days prior.....When a majority of the total membership shall have signed the motion, it shall be entered on the Journal, printed with the signatures thereto in the Congressional Record, and referred to the Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees." This "Discharge Calendar" lists all motions to discharge committees through special procedures. This calendar is only very infrequently used.

In addition to the above calendars, this publication contains a variety of other information including the following.

• A listing and history of each bill or resolution in order by bill number which has been reported or considered by the House or Senate.
• A listing of all public and private laws enacted during the 105th Congress and their corresponding number.
• A listing of the bills in conference with the names of its House and Senate conferees.
• A status sheet of all major legislative bills, including appropriations bills.
• The rules for morning hour debate and special order speeches.
• Other orders of the House including unanimous consent agreements, Calendar Wednesday business, and other special legislative orders.
• A list of those members previously signed up for five-minute special orders.

While the CALENDARS is a handy reference source, it should be noted that not every measure listed is called up and considered by the House.

KEY DEFINITIONS:

Office of the Parliamentarian - An office managed, supervised and administered by a non-partisan Parliamentarian appointed by the Speaker. This office is responsible for advising the presiding officer, members and staff on the rules and procedures of the House as well as for compiling and preparing the precedents of the House. All consultation with this office is confidential (if requested).

Point of Order - An objection that the pending proposal (bill, amendment, motion, etc.) is in violation of a rule of the House. The validity of points of order is determined by the presiding officer, and if held valid the offending bill, amendment or provision is ineligible for consideration. Points of order may be waived by special rules.

Upcoming in the month of May:

Advanced briefings on Rebuffing the Motion to Recommit, and Minority Obstructions and Majority Responses. Notices announcing the time and location of each briefing will be sent to your office.