[Deschler's Precedents]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access]
[DOCID:52093c01_txt-3]
[Page 7-11]
CHAPTER 1
Assembly of Congress
A. MEETING AND ORGANIZATION
Sec. 2. Types of Meeting; Sessions
Congress assembles in various ways, as determined by the status of
Congress at its last meeting and by the provisions of the twentieth
amendment, requiring assembly at least once a year.<SUP>(9)</SUP> The
two types of ``assembly'' contemplated by the twentieth amendment
include the convening of the first session of a new Congress and the
convening of the second or following session of an existing
Congress.<SUP>(10)</SUP> A third category of assembly, the extra
session, may arise when the Congress is convened pursuant to
Presidential proclamation after the final adjournment of one session
but before the constitutional day for the convening of the next
session.<SUP>(11)</SUP> When the President ex
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ercises his power to convene, a Congress may hold three or more
sessions during its term.<SUP>(12)</SUP> The last category of assembly,
as the term is used generally to connote a meeting, occurs during a
session of Congress, after adjournment either to a day certain or from
day to day.
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9. Section 2. The twentieth amendment, ratified Feb. 6, 1933,
superseded U.S. Const. art. I, Sec. 4, clause 2.
10. See House Rules and Manual Sec. 590 (1973). See Sec. 3, infra, for
determination of the meeting time of Congress.
11. For the President's authority to convene Congress, see U.S. Const.
art. II, Sec. 3. For characterization of meetings called by the
President, and whether they constitute a new session, see
Sec. 3, infra. See also Ashley v Keith Oil Corp., 7 F.R.D. 589
(D. Mass. 1947); compare Jefferson's Manual, House Rules and
Manual Sec. 588 (1973). For instances of extra sessions since
1936, see Sec. Sec. 2.1-2.2, infra.
In the 93d Congress, the concurrent resolution adjourning
sine die the 1st session (H. Con. Res. 412) provided that the
leadership could reassemble Congress.
12. For historical commentary on the number of sessions per term, see
Sec. 3, infra.
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The final adjournment of one session, preceding the opening of a
new session, is usually but not always accomplished by a sine die
adjournment resolution.
For example, the 76th Congress, 3d session, terminated and the 77th
Congress, 1st session, began at noon on Jan. 3, 1941, pursuant to the
twentieth amendment; neither a concurrent resolution providing for
adjournment sine die nor a law changing the convening date of the 77th
Congress had been passed. The House adopted a simple motion to adjourn
on Jan. 2, and the Senate stayed in session up to noon on Jan. 3 when
the 3d session of the 76th Congress expired.<SUP>(13)</SUP>
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13. See 86 Cong. Rec. 14059, 76th Cong. 3d Sess., Jan. 3, 1941. See
also Sec. 2.4, infra, and 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3375.
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These distinctions are important in determining the procedure of
the House and the power of its Members when it meets. At the beginning
of the first session of a new Congress, the House is without the
anchors of rules of procedure, elected officers, or duly sworn Members.
At the beginning of a consecutive session of an existing Congress, on
the other hand, Members have been sworn and rules and officers remain
the same. The openings of new sessions, however, whether of a new
Congress, or of an old Congress, or by Presidential proclamation, share
one common procedural characteristic: the ascertainment of a quorum
must be the first order of business. Congress is not ``assembled''
until a quorum is present in both Houses, and each House has been
notified of the quorum in the other.<SUP>(14)</SUP> That re
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quirement distinguishes the opening of a session from the assembly of
Congress during a session, where a quorum is not required unless the
lack thereof is challenged.<SUP>(15)</SUP> There are, of course, other
proceedings on the opening day of a session which do not occur at
regular daily meetings, such as the notification to the President of
the assembly of Congress.<SUP>(16)</SUP>
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14. 6 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 5.
A message from one House that a quorum has appeared is not
delivered in the other until a quorum has appeared there also.
1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 126.
Although art. I, Sec. 5, clause 1 of the Constitution
requires a quorum to do business, the House has proceeded to
business at the beginning of a second session despite the lack
thereof in the Senate (1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 126), and both
Houses have permitted the oath to be administered in the
absence of a quorum (1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 174, 181,
182; 4 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 875).
15. See Ch. 20, infra. On at least one occasion, a quorum was not
present at the opening day of the second session. 10 Annals of
Cong. 782, 6th Cong., 2d Sess., Nov. 17, 1800 (the date
Congress moved permanently to the District of Columbia).
16. See Sec. 7.1, infra.
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The point in time at which the elected Congress becomes the
Congress ``assembled'' has been a subject of much discussion, as the
determination of that question may define the authority of Congress to
act in an official capacity.<SUP>(17)</SUP> The language of the
Constitution, in empowering each House to determine the rules of its
proceedings and to elect its officers, clearly contemplates the
assembly as being a ``House'' before the adoption of rules or election
of officers.<SUP>(18)</SUP> No definitive rule can, however, be laid
down as to the authority of Congress to act before organization,
without looking specifically at the act in question and at the stage of
organization, factors which receive detailed analyses elsewhere in this
chapter. As a rule, only housekeeping resolutions are considered during
organization, although a major bill may on occasion be acted upon
before organization is completed by the adoption of
rules.<SUP>(19)</SUP> A related question, whether Congress was in
session at a particular time, may become a justifiable controversy when
the effectiveness of a congressional or Presidential act depends on the
determination.<SUP>(20)</SUP>
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17. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 87-88.
18. See 1 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 82.
19. See, in general, Sec. 12, infra. For consideration of legislation
before rules adoption, see Sec. 12.8, infra.
20. On the question whether a legislative body was technically in
session at the time a bill was passed, there are two rules of
statutory construction: under the conclusive presumption rule,
courts refuse to go beyond authenticated bills to inquire
whether the legislative body was in session; the opposite view
admits extrinsic evidence. Sutherland, Statutes and Statutory
Construction Sec. 406 (3d. ed. 1943). Federal courts accord a
presumption in favor of regularity to the proceedings of
Congress. See Yellin v U.S., 374 U.S. 109, 146 (1963); Barry v
U.S. ex rel Cunningham, 279 U.S. 597, 619 (1929).
Whether Congress was in session at a particular time may
become a justifiable controversy when the effectiveness of a
Presidential veto depends on the determination. Wright v U.S.,
302 U.S. 583 (1938); Pocket Veto Case, 279 U.S. 655 (1929).
Generally, see Ch. 24, infra.
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Extra Sessions; Presidential Proclamation
Sec. 2.1 On two occasions since 1936, Congress has held three sessions,
the second, or special session, being convened by Presidential
proclamation following the sine die adjournment of the first
session.
Following the sine die adjournment of the first session of the 75th
Congress on Aug. 21, 1937,<SUP>(21)</SUP> Congress was convened for its
second session on Nov. 15, 1937, before the constitutional day of
meeting, by Presidential proclamation.<SUP>(22)</SUP> The third session
of the 75th Congress met on the constitutional day, Jan. 3,
1938,<SUP>(23)</SUP> following the final adjournment of the second
session.
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21. 81 Cong. Rec. 9678, 75th Cong. 1st Sess.
22. 82 Cong. Rec. 7, 75th Cong. 2d Sess.
23. 83 Cong. Rec. 6, 75th Cong. 3d Sess.
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Similarly, the second session of the 76th Congress was convened by
Presidential proclamation on Sept. 21, 1939,<SUP>(24)</SUP> before the
constitutional day of meeting for the second session, Jan. 3, 1940. The
third session of the 76th Congress convened on Jan. 3 subsequent to the
final adjournment of the second session.<SUP>(25)</SUP>
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24. 85 Cong. Rec. 7, 76th Cong. 2d Sess.
25. 86 Cong. Rec. 5, 76th Cong. 3d Sess.
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Sec. 2.2 When the House convenes, pursuant to Presidential
proclamation, following the sine die adjournment of a session, the
Speaker calls the House to order and the Clerk reads the
proclamation of the President convening the extraordinary session.
On Nov. 15, 1937,<SUP>(26)</SUP> following the sine die adjournment
of the first session on Aug. 6, 1937, Speaker William B. Bankhead, of
Alabama, called the House to order and directed the Clerk to read the
following proclamation:
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26. 82 Cong. Rec. 7, 75th Cong. 2d Sess.
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Convening the Congress in Extra Session by the President of the
United States of America
a proclamation
Whereas public interests require that the Congress of the
United States should be convened in extra session at 12 o'clock
noon on the 15th day of November 1937, to receive such
communication as may be made by the Executive:
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Now, therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim and declare that an
extraordinary occasion requires the Congress of the United States
to convene in extra session at the Capitol in the City of
Washington on the 15th day of November 1937, at 12 o'clock noon, of
which all persons who shall at that time be entitled to act as
Members thereof are hereby required to take notice. . . .
Sec. 2.3 When Congress is convened by the President for a special and
additional session, it may provide appropriations, by joint
resolution, for extra mileage expenses of Members and additional
wages of House employees thereby incurred.
On Sept. 25, 1939,<SUP>(27)</SUP> the House agreed to a joint
resolution appropriating payment for expenses incident to the second
and extraordinary session of the 76th Congress, convened by
Presidential proclamation. The appropriations covered mileage expenses
incurred by the Members, Delegates, and Commissioners of Congress and
by the Vice President, and wages for the pages of the Senate and the
House during the term of the second session.
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27. 85 Cong. Rec. 16, 76th Cong. 2d Sess.
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Interval Between Sessions
Sec. 2.4 On one occasion since 1936, the Senate stayed in session until
the date and hour when one Congress expired and the next one began
pursuant to the twentieth amendment.<SUP>(28)</SUP>
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28. For other instances where one session of Congress followed another
without appreciable interval, see 5 Hinds' Precedents
Sec. 6690; 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3375.
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On Jan. 3, 1941,<SUP>(1)</SUP> the Senate of the 76th Congress, 3d
session, convened at 11:30 a.m. At 11:43 a.m. the Senate took a recess
until 11:55 a.m. Further proceedings were carried as follows in the
Record:
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1. 86 Cong. Rec. 14059, 76th Cong. 3d Sess. The House had adjourned
pursuant to a simple motion to adjourn on Jan. 2, 1941.
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The third session of the Seventy-sixth Congress expired
automatically, under constitutional limitation, when the hour of 12
o'clock arrived.