[HOUSE PRACTICE, 104th Congress, 2d Session]
[A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access]
[DOCID:hp_txt-15]
[Page 345-351]
[[Page 345]]
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
Sec. 1. In General; Control Over the Record
Sec. 2. Matters Printed in the Record
Sec. 3. Corretions; Deletions
Sec. 4. Printing Errors
Sec. 5. Extensions of Remarks; Insertions
Research References
5 Hinds Secs. 6958-7024
8 Cannon Secs. 3459-3502
1 Deschler Ch 5 Secs. 15-20
Manual Secs. 923-929
Sec. 1 . In General; Control Over the Record
The present system of reporting the proceedings of the House for
the Congressional Record is the result of gradual evolution. The first
debates, beginning in 1789, were published in condensed form in the
Annals of Congress. The Congressional Globe began in 1833 and
continued until 1873, when the Congressional Record began. 5 Hinds
Sec. 6959.
The Record is governed by statutory provisions and rules as to its
format and content. 44 USC Secs. 901-910. Control over the arrangement
and style of the Record, including maps, diagrams, and illustrations
(44 USC Sec. 904), is vested in the Joint Committee on Printing (44
USC Sec. 901). Neither the Speaker nor the House may order changes in
the type size or printing style without the approval of the Joint
Committee on Printing. Deschler Ch 5 Secs. 15.1, 15.2.
The proceedings of the House and the proceedings of the Senate are
published in separate portions of the Record, and each House
separately controls the content of its portion of the Record. 8 Cannon
Sec. 2503. The statement of a Senator that would normally appear in
the Senate portion of the Record may not be inserted in that portion
of the Record dealing with the proceedings of the House. 87-2, Jan.
16, 1962, p 291.
Both the Joint Committee on Printing and the House have adopted
supplemental rules governing publication in the Record. Manual
Sec. 924. The Committee on House Oversight has jurisdiction of matters
relating to printing and correction of the Record. Rule X(h)(8).
A Member is not entitled to inspect the reporter's notes of
remarks of others not reflecting on himself (5 Hinds Sec. 6964), nor
may he demand that they be read (5 Hinds Sec. 6967; 8 Cannon
Sec. 3460).
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Sec. 2 . Matters Printed in the Record
Generally
The content of the House portion of the Record is governed by
statutory law, the House rules, and the customs and practices of the
House. In addition, the House often agrees by unanimous consent to
permit certain matter to be inserted in the Record which would not
ordinarily be included. Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 16.
The Congressional Record is required by House rule to be a
``substantially verbatim account'' of the proceedings of the House.
Manual Sec. 764a. Because of this requirement, the Speaker will not
entertain a unanimous-consent request to give a special-order speech
``off the Record.'' 102-2, June 24, 1992, p ____.
Additional matters required by statute or House rules to be
printed in the Record include:
<box> The oath of office subscribed to by a Member. 2 USC Sec. 25.
<box> Referrals to committee under Rule XXII. Manual Sec. 854.
<box> The filing of committee reports. Manual Sec. 743.
<box> Reports submitted to Congress pursuant to a statute requiring
publication in the Record. 87-1, Mar. 24, 1961, pp 4816-18; 87-
2, Mar. 15, 1962, p 4324.
<box> Amendments to be protected for debate time under the five-
minute rule. Manual Sec. 874.
<box> Conference reports and accompanying statements. Manual
Sec. 912.
<box> Messages received from the Senate and President giving notice
of bills passed or approved. Manual Sec. 935.
<box> Statements and rulings of the Chair. 104-1, Jan. 20, 1995, p
____.
<box> Motions to discharge. Manual Sec. 908.
<box> Voting pairs. Manual Sec. 660.
<box> Timely changes in votes. Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 16.14.
The Record is for the proceedings of the House and Senate only,
and unrelated matters are rigidly excluded. 5 Hinds Sec. 6962. It is
not, however, the official record, that function being fulfilled by
the Journal. See Journal.
As a general principle the Speaker has no control over the Record
(5 Hinds Secs. 6983, 7017); the House, and not the Speaker, determines
the extent to which a Member may be allowed to extend his remarks (5
Hinds Secs. 6997-7000; 8 Cannon Sec. 3475), whether or not a
copyrighted article shall be printed therein (5 Hinds Sec. 6985), or
whether there has been an abuse of the leave to print (5 Hinds
Sec. 7012; 8 Cannon Sec. 3474).
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The House frequently agrees by unanimous consent to permit
insertions of matters of general interest in the Record at the request
of Members. Matter which may be inserted in the Record under this
procedure include:
<box> Information relative to the installation of voting equipment in
the Chamber. 91-2, Nov. 25, 1970, p 39085.
<box> Records from litigation involving the House. 90-1, Apr. 10,
1967, pp 8729-62.
<box> The transcript of proceedings of the House in a secret session.
96-1, July 17, 1979, p 19049.
<box> Summaries of the work of Congress or its committees at
adjournment. 92-2, Oct. 18, 1972, p 37063; 94-1, Dec. 19, 1975,
p 41975; 92-1, Dec. 17, 1971, p 47677; 93-2, Dec. 20, 1974, p
41860.
Dispensing With Printing Requirements
The House, in the interests of economy (92-2, May 16, 1972, p
17394), occasionally agrees by unanimous consent to dispense with the
printing in the Record of an especially lengthy bill (88-1, June 17,
1963, p 10910; 88-1, Sept. 25, 1963, p 18044; 95-1, Aug. 5, 1977, p
27218), and may instead provide for an explanatory statement in lieu
thereof. 87-2, Apr. 2, 1962, p 5531. In such cases, the House will
weigh the cost of publishing the bill in the Record against the
importance of the bill and the value of its quick dissemination. See
95-1, Aug. 5, 1977, p 27218.
Sec. 3 . Corrections; Deletions
Under an amendment to Rule XIV clause 9 adopted in 1995, the
Congressional Record account of remarks made during debate is subject
to technical, grammatical, and typographical corrections authorized by
the Member making the remarks involved. Unparliamentary remarks may be
deleted only by permission or order of the House. Manual Sec. 764a.
The remarks of a Member, if in order, cannot be stricken from the
Record by the House. 5 Hinds Sec. 6974; 8 Cannon Sec. 3498. But
remarks that are out of order may be excluded from the Record by House
order. See Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 19.8.
Remarks by an interrupting Member who has not been recognized do
not appear in the Record. Manual Sec. 750.
The Committee of the Whole has no control over deletions from the
Record. 5 Hinds Sec. 6986; Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 17.22.
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Sec. 4 . Printing Errors
Generally
The House may correct errors in the printing of the Record in
order to ensure that the proceedings of the House are accurately
recorded. 5 Hinds Sec. 6972. The authority to correct such errors is
vested in the House, not the Speaker. 5 Hinds Sec. 7019; Deschler Ch 5
Sec. 18.
The correction of an error in the Record may present a question of
the privileges of the House. Deschler Ch 5 Secs. 18.1, 18.2; Manual
Sec. 927. However, this question may not be raised until the daily
edition of the Record has appeared (Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 18), and no
corrections may be submitted after the permanent edition of the
particular volume is published. 91-1, Jan. 23, 1969, p 430.
Errors that may be corrected under this procedure are errors in
the transcript or printing of the proceedings, not errors of fact made
by a Member during debate. The House may not change the Record merely
to show what should have been said on the floor. 5 Hinds Sec. 6974; 8
Cannon Sec. 3498; Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 18.
By Motion or Resolution
A motion or resolution to correct the Record is in order (Deschler
Ch 5 Sec. 18) after the approval of the Journal (Deschler Ch 5
Sec. 18.6). A motion or resolution to correct the Record is also in
order after objection to a unanimous-consent request to that effect
has been objected to (Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 18.9). It is debatable under
the hour rule (Deschler Ch 5 Secs. 18.7, 18.10), and is subject to a
motion to refer to the Committee on Rules (Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 18.8).
Sec. 5 . Extensions of Remarks; Insertions
Generally
In 1968, the Appendix of the Record was replaced by a new heading,
``Extensions of Remarks,'' for the inclusion of material in the Record
which is extraneous to the proceedings on the floor. 90-2, Jan. 5,
1968, p 56. See also 104-1, Jan. 4, 1995, p ____. A Member may be
permitted to extend his remarks in this part of the Record so as to
insert (1) a speech that was not actually delivered on the floor and
(2) extraneous materials related to the subject under discussion,
provided the consent of the House is obtained. 5 Hinds Secs. 6990-
6993; Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 20. This has been a practice of long-
standing, dating from as early as 1852, when it was the custom to
print undelivered speeches in the Appendix to the Record. 5 Hinds
Sec. 6993. Under
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the modern practice, such insertions are permitted by unanimous
consent and not by privileged motion. 94-2, June 29, 1976, p 21146.
Permission to include extraneous materials may be granted only by
the House. The Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may recognize a
Member to extend his own remarks (see Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 20.12), but
the Committee of the Whole lacks the power to permit the inclusion of
extraneous materials (91-1, Sept. 4, 1969, p 24372.
Permission to extend must be sought by the Member whose remarks
are to be inserted (Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 20), although general
permission to extend is sometimes given to some or all Members. 97-2,
Aug. 10, 1982, p 20266; 98-1, Nov. 15, 1983, p 32668.
The substantially verbatim account must be clearly
distinguishable, by different typeface, from material inserted under
permission to extend remarks; the Speaker has instructed the Official
Reporters of Debates to adhere strictly to this requirement. 100-2,
Mar. 2, 1988, p 2963; 103-1, Feb. 3, 1993, p ____.
Objecting to Extensions
Any Member may object to a unanimous-consent request to extend
remarks or include extraneous material. And a Member may object to
unanimous-consent requests en bloc (made at the end of the day by the
Majority or Minority Leader) or only to certain of those requests. 94-
2, June 29, 1976, p 21165.
Timeliness
Permission to extend must be sought at the proper time. Requests
to insert made prior to the reading and approval of the Journal will
not be entertained. 87-2, Sept. 19, 1962, p 19940. The Speaker may
decline to entertain a request to extend remarks pending a motion to
discharge a committee (Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 20.7) or during the pendency
of a motion to suspend the rules (Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 20.8).
Strict Construction
Authorizations to extend remarks in the Record are strictly
construed. (Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 20.) A Member who has received
permission to extend his remarks may not without consent include in
such remarks extraneous matter, such as an article or speech by
another person. 8 Cannon Sec. 3479; Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 20.23.
Similarly, a Member who has obtained the consent of the House to
extend remarks only on a specific bill must confine his insertions to
the subject matter of the bill and may not include extraneous
materials such as letters, editorials, or articles. (Deschler Ch 5
Sec. 20.24.)
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The Chair may decline to entertain a request that a Member be
permitted to revise and extend his remarks on a point of order (98-1,
Nov. 2, 1983, p 30545) or to insert, immediately following a roll call
vote on an amendment, a previous record vote on the same subject (96-
2, Jan. 30, 1980, p 1319).
Limitations on Insertions
Under leave to extend a Member may not insert matter which:
<box> Would be out of order if stated on the House floor. 5 Hinds
Sec. 7003; 8 Cannon Sec. 3472; 102-2, Oct. 2, 1992, p ____.
<box> Is unparliamentary. 8 Cannon Sec. 2513; Deschler Ch 5
Secs. 20.19, et seq.
<box> Fails to comply with statute or the rules of the Joint
Committee on Printing as to format (44 USC Sec. 904), cost-
estimate requirements (87-2, Feb. 12, 1962, p 2207; 87-2, Oct.
9, 1962, p 22850), and subject matter (92-2, May 10, 1972, pp
16661, 16748-16836). See also 8 Cannon Sec. 3501.
<box> Fails to conform to the descriptions implicit in the request to
which the House consented. 5 Hinds Sec. 7001; 8 Cannon
Sec. 3479; Deschler Ch 5 Secs. 20.25, 20.26.
<box> Fails to include the Member's signature (93-2, Aug. 15, 1974, p
28385).
<box> Alters the nature of coloquies as recorded on the floor (96-1,
May 7, 1979, p 10099) or changes the meaning of what another
Member said (Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 20.3).
<box> Includes newspaper articles or other extraneous matter without
having obtained authority to do so. 8 Cannon Secs. 3480-3483.
Abuse of Leave to Print
Abuse of the leave to print gives rise to a question of privilege.
5 Hinds Secs. 7008, 7011; 8 Cannon Secs. 3491, 3495. A resolution to
investigate the propriety of remarks as constituting such abuse (8
Cannon Sec. 3495), or for the appointment of a committee to consider
the propriety of remarks inserted under leave to print (8 Cannon
Sec. 3493) is privileged (5 Hinds Sec. 7012), but is not in order
until the Record appears (5 Hinds Secs. 7020, 7021). An inquiry by the
House as to alleged abuse of leave to print does not necessarily
entitle the Member implicated to the floor on a question of personal
privilege (5 Hinds Sec. 7012); but when a committee is appointed to
investigate the propriety of a Member's remarks in the Record, the
Member is afforded an opportunity to be heard (8 Cannon Sec. 3491).
Expungement
The extension of remarks in the Record by a Member without the
permission of the House constitutes grounds for a question of the
privilege of the House, and the House may expunge such remarks from
the Record. Deschler Ch 5 Sec. 20.2. A resolution to expunge a speech
alleged to be an
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abuse of leave to print is privileged (8 Cannon Secs. 3475, 3491), and
entitles its proponent to recognition to debate it (8 Cannon
Sec. 3479).
Forms
Member: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend
my remarks in the Record.
Opponent: Reserving the right to object, on what subject does the
gentleman propose to extend remarks?
Member: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to extend my remarks
on the bill just passed, H.R. __________, by inserting an article
pertaining thereto.
Majority Leader: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members speaking on the bill have five legislative days in which to
extend remarks in the Record, to be confined to the bill.