Where more than one member rises at same time. Who entitled to floor by courtesy. No member shall speak but once, "When two or more members happen to rise at once, the Speaker shall name the member who is first to speak."Rule 59. And it is the right of the Speaker generally to name the member entitled to the floor.-Journal, 2, 32, p. 405. (See also Manual, p. 74, where it is held, in reference to similar language in a rule of the Senate, that no appeal lies from the presiding officer's decision.) By parliamentary courtesy, the member upon whose motion a subject is brought before the House is first entitled to the floor.-Journal, 2, 30, p 247. [So, too, it is an invariable practice for the Speaker, at every new stage of a bill or proposition, to recognize first the member who has had charge of it, even if another member addressed him first: Provided, He is a competitor for the floor.] "No member shall speak more than once to the same quesexcept the mover. tion without leave of the House, unless he be the mover, pro Where members may speak from. Members may speak again after amendment fered. poser, or introducer of the matter pending; in which case, he Where an amendment is offered after a member has occupied of the floor, he may again occupy the floor, the question being changed-Journal, 1, 28, p. 532. Member may A member who has once spoken may be recognized to move move previous question after the previous question.-Journal, 1, 24, p. 1401. having once spo ken. Right to open The right of the "member reporting the measure" to open and close, not af and close debate is not affected by an order either for the prefected by previous question or close vious question or that debate shall cease in committee.-Jour of debate. Where member moves previous nal, 1, 31, p. 1056. Cong. Globe, 1, 31, pp. 1308 to 1310. [But he has only an hour allowed by the rules to close the debate; and if, after having occupied part of the hour in closing, he moves the previous question and it is seconded, he is then only entitled to so much of the hour as he has not already occupied.] Where a member has spoken part of his hour, and moved question within his the previous question, he may withdraw the motion and speak for the remainder of his time.-Journal, 1, 31, pp. 1367, 1368. hour. Member may yield for explana While a member is occupying the floor, he may yield it to another for explanation of the pending measure as well as for tion, &c. personal explanation. Journal, 1, 32, p. 524. [So, too, he may yield it for a motion to adjourn, or that the committee riso without losing his right to reoccupy it for the remainder of his time whenever the pending question shall be resumed; but it is otherwise when he yields to enable another to offer or withdraw an amendment.] Must be confined to the question, avoided. In Committee of the Whole. "A member shall confine himself to the question under debate, and avoid personality"-Rule 57-but in Committee of and personality the Whole on the state of the Union he is not bound to confine himself to the question under debate-Cong. Globe, 2, 30, p. 587; 1, 31, p. 1475; 1, 32, p. 1856-except where a special order is pending, when the debate must be confined strictly to the measure under consideration.-Rule 114. in debate, to be sub A contestant for a seat, or other person, occupying the floor Contestant, by leave of the House, is subject alike with members to the ject to rules. rules regulating debate.-Journal, 1, 28, p. 1011. may, jection of bill debatable. speak more than once on appeals. Where member transgresses the rules in speaking. The question of the rejection of a bill, arising upon its first, Question of rereading, is debatable.-Journal, 2, 32, p. 152. On an appeal growing out of questions as to the applicabil- No member to ity or relevancy of propositions, &c., "no member shall speak more than once without the leave of the House."-Rule 2. "If any member, in speaking or otherwise, transgress the rules of the House, the Speaker shall, or any member call to order; in which case, the member so called to order shall immediately sit down, unless permitted to explain; and the House shall, if appealed to, decide on the case, but without debate; if there be no appeal, the decision of the Chair shall be submitted to. If the decision be in favor of the member called to order, he shall be at liberty to proceed; if other. He may proceed wise, he shall not be permitted to proceed, in case any member object, without leave of the House; and if the case require it, he shall be liable to the censure of the House."--Rule 61. 66 in order if no mem berobjects, or with leave. Words excepted to, to be reduced If a member be called to order for words spoken in debate, the person calling him to order shall repeat the words to writing. excepted to, and they shall be taken down in writing at the Clerk's table; and no member shall be held to answer, or be When not cen surable for words subject to the censure of the House, for words spoken in de- spoken. bate, if any other member has spoken, or other business has intervened, after the words spoken, and before exception to them shall have been taken."-Rule 62. Proceedings of other house not to be noticed in. Not to be questioned out of It is a breach of order in debate to notice what has been said on the same subject in the other house, or the particular votes or majority on it there; because the opinion of each house should be left to its own independency, not to be influenced by the proceedings of the other; and the quoting them might beget reflections leading to a misunderstanding between the two houses.-Manual, p. 77. "For any speech or debate in either house, members shall house for debate. not be questioned in any other place."-Const. 1, 6, p. 9. No conversation While a member is speaking, none shall entertain private member and Chair. discourse, nor pass between him and the Chair.-Rule 65. or passing between Hour rule. Five debate. "No member shall occupy more than one hour in debate on any question in the House or in committee; but a member reporting the measure under consideration from a committee may open and close the debate: Provided, That where debate is closed by order of the House, any member shall be minutes' allowed, in committee, five minutes to explain any amendment he may offer-December 18, 1847—after which any member who shall first obtain the floor shall be allowed to speak five minutes in opposition to it, and there shall be no further debate on the amendment; but the same privilege of debate shall be allowed in favor of and against any amendment that may be offered to the amendment; and neither the amendment nor an amendment to the amendment shall be withdrawn by the mover thereof, unless by the unanimous consent of the comClosing of all de- mittee.-August 14, 1850: Provided, further, That the House may, by the vote of a majority of the members present, at any time after the five minutes' debate has taken place upon proposed amendments to any section or paragraph of a bill, close all debate upon such section or paragraph, or at their election upon the pending amendments only.”—Rule 60, "The House may at any time discharge the Committee of tee of the Whole. the Whole House and the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union from the further consideration of any bill referred to it, after acting, without debate, on all amendments pending that may be offered."-Rule 104. bate. Debate may be closed in Commit But subject must have been consid But the subject must have been considered in Committee of ered in committee the Whole; and this rule applies as well to messages as bills.— resolutions or bills Journal, 1, 32, pp. 146, 147. Not allowed on By Rule 52 debate on the day of their presentation is proon leave on day of hibited upon resolutions submitted on the call of the States and Territories after the reports of committees; and by Rule presentation. 130, all resolutions submitted on Mondays which shall give rise to debate shall lie over for discussion at least until all the States and Territories are called. And it has been decided (Journal, 1, 26, pp. 557, 763) that bills introduced on leave upon the call for resolutions, and which give rise to debate, must also lie over. It is a very common practice, however, when a resolution is submitted under these rules, for the mover to immediately demand the previous question, which, if ordered, prevents debate and brings the House to a direct vote on the resolution-thus avoiding the necessity for its lying over.-Journal, 1, 26, pp. 1064, 1067; 2, 27, p. 429; 1, 28, p. 558; 1, 29, p. 1235; 1, 30, p. 326. on By Rule 130 all bills introduced on leave during the first Prohibited bills introduced on hour after the Journal is read on Mondays must be referred Mondays. without debate. "On the first and fourth Friday and Saturday of each month the calendar of private bills shall be called over, and the bills to the passage of which no objection shall then be made shall be first considered and disposed of. But when a bill is again reached, after having been once objected to, the committee shall consider and dispose of the same, unless it shall again be objected to by at least five members."-Rule 129. [The universal practice under this rule is not to tolerate discussion in committee on any private bill on the days named; and it has been decided (Journal, 1, 31, p. 697) that the rule applies equally to bills in the House.] "A motion to adjourn, and a motion to fix the day to which the House shall adjourn, shall be always in order; these motions, and the motion to lie on the table, shall be decided without debate."-Rule 44. Not allowed on private bills on 1st and 4th Fridays and Saturdays. Not allowed on journ, to fix day, motions to ad and to lie on table. On a motion to excuse a member from voting, the question Not allowed on shall be taken without debate."-Rule 31. motion to be excused from voting. All Nor on previous "On a previous question there shall be no debate. incidental questions of order arising after a motion is made for the previous question, and pending such motion, shall be decided, whether on appeal or otherwise, without debate." And under Rule 132, after the main question is ordered, its effect shall be "to put an end to all debate." And "the House may als, at any time, on motion seconded by a majority of the members present, close all debate upon a pending amendment, or an amendment thereto, and cause the question to be question or inci. questions dental pending it. Nor on motion to reconsider third put thereon; and this shall not preclude any further amendment or debate upon the bill." Pending the demand for the previous question on the pas reading, while pre- sage of a bill, it is not in order to debate a motion to reconsider vious question is pending a passage. the vote on its third reading; but the vote must be taken without debate-Journal, 1, 34, p. 1009. Nor pending such demand is it in order even to ask a question of the mover of the proposition. Journal, 1, 28, p. 1003. Nor on questions of priority of busi ness. Nor on motions to suspend rules, or votes on questions "All questions relating to the priority of business to be acted on shall be decided without debate."-Rule 66. [It has been invariably held, too, that a motion to suspend to reconsider the rules is not debatable; nor motions to reconsider votes on not debatable. questions which were not themselves debatable, except where the original question was not debatable by reason of the order for the previous question.] Nor after a member has answered to his name. On motions to postpone and com. mit. Provision election of for Where a question has been ordered to be taken by yeas and nays, and has been put by the Speaker, and upon the roll-call a vote has been given by a member, further debate is precluded -Journal, 2, 10, p. 446. Such continues to be the practice; but if a member rises before a response is giren, and is recognized by the Chair, he may proceed to debate the question. Journal, 1, 17, pp. 216, 217. [On a motion to postpone, the debate allowable is very limited; but on a motion to commit the whole question is open.] DELEGATES. By the act of March 3, 1817, it is provided, "that in every Territory of the United States in which a temporay government has been or hereafter shall be established, and which, by virtue of the ordinance of Congress of the 13th of July, 1787, or of any subsequent act of Congress passed or to be passed, now hath or hereafter shall have the right to send a delegate to Congress, such delegate shall be elected every second year, for the same term of two years for which members of the Shall have right House of Representatives of the United States are elected; and in that House each of the said delegates shall have a seat, with a right of debating, but not of voting." to debate, but not to vote. Compensation and franking priv. ilege of. The compensation and franking privilege of delegates are the same as of members. (See COMPENSATION and FRANKING PRIVILEGE.) The right of a delegate to submit a resolution is recognized |