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1 (September 19, 2016)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthmansn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CRS INSIGHT Questions of the Privileges of the House September 19, 2016 (IN10315) Related Author MeganS_Lynch Megan S. Lynch, Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process (mlynchoctsl oc gov, 7-7853) A question of the privileges of the House is a formal declaration by a Member of the House asserting that a situation has arisen that affects the rights of the House collectively, its safety, dignity, and the integrity of its proceedings. When making the declaration, the Member submits a resolution providing detail on the situation and typically urging action of some sort. The notion of such questions predates Congress, and House precedent states, The tradition of Anglo-American parliamentary procedure recognizes the privileged status of questions related to the honor and security of a deliberate body and its Members. House Rule IX recognizes such questions as highly privileged, and if offered by the majority leader or the minority leader, a question of the privileges of the House may interrupt the daily flow of business. Other Members, too, may offer such questions, but they must first give notice on the House floor. Within two legislative days of giving such notice, the Member will be recognized to offer the resolution. This means that any Member may be recognized to offer such a question and, in doing so, have a resolution read on the floor. This is an uncommon situation in a chamber where the majority party leadership characteristically sets the floor agenda. Once a question of the privileges of the House is raised, the Speaker rules on its validity with guidance from the House Parliamentarian based on House rules and precedent. Typically, valid questions belong to the following categories: Member and staff conduct, the House's constitutional prerogatives, integrity of House proceedings, and House organization. Questions that have been ruled not to be valid are typically those that seek to amend the rules of the House, establish a special order of business, express legislative sentiment, or relate to an external issue outside of the House itself. If the question being raised is ruled to be valid, the House may take a number of actions on the resolution. For example, the House may vote on agreeing to the resolution or instead may vote to table (i.e., dispose of the resolution adversely but without taking a direct vote on it), postpone, or refer the question either immediately or after debate occurs. A question of the privileges of the House is considered under the hour rule, which means generally that a maximum of one hour of debate will occur on the resolution, although it is not uncommon for the House to dispose of the measure immediately, without debate, in one of the ways described above. The manner in which such questions are ultimately disposed of varies significantly depending on whether the Member

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