Title page
Contents
Summary 2
Introduction 5
Principles of House Parliamentary Procedure 5
House Procedures Are Determined by Multiple Authorities 5
The House Has the Constitutional Authority to Determine Its Rules 6
House Rules Are Generally Not Self-Enforcing 6
The House Follows Its Precedents 7
The House Adheres to Many Informal Practices 8
The House Manual and the Authorities It Contains 8
Features of the House Manual 8
Organization and Indexing 8
Parliamentarian's Annotations 9
Summary of Changes to House Rules 9
The Constitution 9
Jefferson's Manual 9
Rules of the House 10
Procedural Provisions of Statute 10
Legislative Reorganization Acts 11
Expedited Procedures 11
Budget Process Statutes 11
Official Compilations of Precedents of the House 12
House Practice 12
Deschler's Precedents 13
Precedents of the United States House of Representatives 14
Hinds' and Cannon's Precedents 15
Special Rules from the Committee on Rules 16
Rules of Internal Organizations of the House 16
Committee Rules of Procedure 17
Party Caucus or Conference Rules 17
Additional Authorities 18
Speaker's Policies 18
Memoranda of Understanding Regarding Committee Jurisdiction 19
Other Publications on Procedure 19
A Compendium of Laws and Rules of the Congressional Budget Process 19
How Our Laws Are Made 20
Enactment of a Law 20
Appendix A. Annotated Excerpts from Selected Parliamentary Reference Sources 21
Appendix B. Selected CRS Products on House Procedure 25
Appendix C. House Parliamentary Reference Information Available Online 26
Author Information 26
Acknowledgments 26
Disclaimer 27