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mittee, or other subject upon the Calendar except the motion to continue the consideration of a bill, resolution, report of a committee, or other subject against objection as provided in Rule VIII. [Jefferson's Manual, Sec. XIV]

5. 2 Every petition or memorial shall be signed by the petitioner or memorialist and have indorsed thereon a brief statement of its contents, and shall be presented and referred without debate. But no petition or memorial 3 or other paper signed by citizens or subjects of a foreign power shall be received, unless the same be transmitted to the Senate by the President. [Jefferson's Manual, Sec. XIX] 7. The Presiding Officer may at any time lay, and it shall be in order at any for a Senator to move to lay, before the Senate, any bill or other matter sent to the Senate by the President or the House of Representatives, and any question pending at that time shall be suspended for this purpose. Any motion so made shall be determined without debate. [Jefferson's Manual, Sec. XIV]

RULE VIII-ORDER OF BUSINESS

At the conclusion of the morning business for each day, unless upon motion the Senate shall at any time otherwise order, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of the Calendar of Bills and Resolutions, and continue such consideration until 2 o'clock;5 and bills and resolutions that are not objected to shall be taken up in their order, and each Senator shall be entitled to speak once and for five minutes only upon any question and the objection may be interposed at any stage of the proceedings, but upon motion the Senate may continue such consideration; and this order shall commence immediately after the call for "concurrent and other resolutions," and shall take precedence of the unfinished business and other special orders. But if the Senate shall proceed with the consideration of any matter notwithstanding an objection, the foregoing provisions touching debate shall not apply.

[Jefferson's Manual, Sec. XIV]

6 All motions made before 2 o'clock to proceed to the consideration of any matter shall be determined without debate. [Jefferson's Manual, Sec. XIV]

RULE IX-ORDER OF BUSINESS

Immediately after the consideration of cases not objected to upon the Calendar is completed, and not later than 2 o'clock if there shall be no special orders for that time, the Calendar of General Orders shall be taken up and proceeded with in its order, beginning with the first subject on the Calendar next after the last subject disposed of in proceeding with the Calendar; and in such case the following motions shall be in order at any time as privileged motions, save as against a motion to adjourn, or to proceed to the consideration of executive business, or questions of privilege, to wit:

First. A motion to proceed to the consideration of an appropriation or revenue bill.

Second. A motion to proceed to the consideration of any other bill on the Calendar, which motion shall not be open to amendment.

Third. A motion to pass over the pending subject, which if carried shall have the effect to leave such subject without prejudice in its place on the Calendar. Fourth. A motion to place such subject at the foot of the Calendar.

Each of the foregoing motions shall be decided without debate and shall have precedence in the order above named, and may be submitted as in the nature and with all the rights of questions of order.

[Jefferson's Manual, Secs. XIV, XXXIII]

RULE X-SPECIAL ORDERS

2. When two or more special orders have been made for the same time, they shall have precedence according to the order in which they were severally assigned, and that order shall only be changed by direction of the Senate.

2 As amended S. Jour. 427, 428, 50-1, Mar. 6, 1888.

3 On motion by Mr. Manderson: Ordered, That when petitions and memorials are ordered printed in the Congressional Record the order shall be deemed to apply to the body of the petition only, and the names attached to said petition or memorial shall not be printed unless specially ordered by the Senate. [S. Jour. 280, 49-2, Feb. 7, 1887.]

4 As amended S. Jour. 431, 48-1, Mar. 17, 1884.

5 Mr. Hoar submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent and agreed to: Resolved, That after to-day, unless otherwise ordered, the morning hour shall terminate at the expiration of two hours after the meeting of the Senate. [S. Jour. 1266, 50-1, Aug. 10, 1888]

6 As amended S. Jour. 442, 48-1, Mar. 19, 1884.

7 And all motions to change such order, or to proceed to the consideration of other business, shall be decided without debate.

[Jefferson's Manual, Secs. XVIII, XXXIII]

RULE XI-OBJECTION TO READING A PAPER

When the reading of a paper is called for, and objected to, it shall be determined by a vote of the Senate, without debate.

[Jefferson's Manual, Sec. XXXII]

RULE XIX-DEBATE

1. When a Senator desires to speak, he shall rise and address the Presiding Officer, and shall not proceed until he is recognized, and the Presiding Officer shall recognize the Senator who shall first address him. No Senator shall interrupt another Senator in debate without his consent, and to obtain such consent he shall first address the Presiding Officer; and no Senator shall speak more than twice upon any one question in debate on the same day without leave of the Senate, which shall be determined without debate.

[Jefferson's Manual, Secs. XVII, XXXIX]

2. No Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.

3.

[Jefferson's Manual, Sec. XVII]

No Senator in debate shall refer offensively to any State of the Union. 4. If any Senator, in speaking or otherwise, transgress the rules of the Senate, the Presiding Officer shall, or any Senator may, call him to order; and when a Senator shall be called to order he shall sit down, and not proceed without leave of the Senate, which, if granted, shall be upon motion that he be allowed to proceed in order, which motion shall be determined without debate.

[Jefferson's Manual, Sec. XVII]

5. If a Senator be called to order for words spoken in debate, upon the demand of the Senator or of any other Senator, the exceptionable words shall be taken down in writing, and read at the table for the information of the Senate.

[Jefferson's Manual, Sec. XVII]

RULE XX-QUESTIONS OF ORDER

1. A question of order may be raised at any stage of the proceedings, except when the Senate is dividing, and, unless submitted to the Senate, shall be decided by the Presiding Officer without debate, subject to an appeal to the Senate. When an appeal is taken, any subsequent question of order which may arise before the decision of such appeal shall be decided by the Presiding Officer without debate; and every appeal therefrom shall be decided at once, and without debate; and any appeal may be laid on the table without prejudice to the pending proposition, and thereupon shall be held as affirming the decision of the Presiding Officer. [Jefferson's Manual, Sec. XXXIII]

RULE XXII-CLOTURE

2.10 Notwithstanding the provisions of rule III or rule VI or any other rule of the Senate, except subsection 3 of rule XXII, at any time a motion signed by sixteen Senators, to bring to a close the debate upon any measure, motion, or other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, is presented to the Senate, the Presiding Officer shall at once state the motion to the Senate, and one hour after the Senate meets on the following calendar day but one, he shall lay the motion before the Senate and direct that the Secretary call the roll, and, upon the ascertainment that a quorum is present, the Presiding Officer shall, without debate, submit to the Senate by a yea-and-nay vote the question:

"Is it the sense of the Senate that the debate shall be brought to a close?"

7 As amended S. Jour. 442, 48-1, Mar. 19, 1884.

8 As amended S.Jour. 301, 57-1, Apr. 8, 1902.
As amended S. Jour. 71, 63-2, Jan. 14, 1914.
10 As amended, S. Jour. 173, 81-1, Mar. 17, 1949.

And if that question shall be decided in the affirmative by two-thirds of the Senators duly chosen and sworn, then said measure, motion, or other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, shall be the unfinished business to the exclusion of all other business until disposed of.

Thereafter no Senator shall be entitled to speak in all more than one hour on the measure, motion, or other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, the amendments thereto, and motions affecting the same, and it shall be the duty of the Presiding Officer to keep the time of each Senator who speaks. Except by unanimous consent, no amendment shall be in order after the vote to bring the debate to a close, unless the same has been presented and read prior to that time. No dilatory motion, or dilatory amendment, or amendment not germane shall be in order. Points of order, including questions of relevancy, and appeals from the decision of the Presiding Officer, shall be decided without debate. 3. The provisions of the last paragraph of rule VIII (prohibiting debate on motions made before 2 o'clock) and of subsection 2 of this rule shall not apply to any motion to proceed to the consideration of any motion, resolution, or proposal to change any of the Standing Rules of the Senate.

RULE XXVII-REPORTS OF CONFERENCE COMMITTEES

1. The presentation of reports of committees of conference shall always be in order, except when the Journal is being read or a question of order or a motion to adjourn is pending, or while the Senate is dividing; and when received the question of proceeding to the consideration of the report, if raised, shall be immediately put, and shall be determined without debate.

[Jefferson's Manual, Sec. XLVI]

CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF EFFORTS TO LIMIT DEBATE IN THE SENATE

In 1604 the practice of limiting debate in some form was introduced in the British Parliament by Sir Henry Vane. It became known in parliamentary procedure as the "previous question" and is described in section 34 of Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practice, as follows:

"When any question is before the House, any Member may move a previous question, whether that question (called the main question) shall not be put. If it pass in the affirmative, then the main question is to be put immediately, and no man may speak anything further to it, either to add or alter."

In 1778 the Journals of the Continental Congress also show that the "previous question" was used. Section 10 of the Rules of the Continental Congress reading: "When a question is before the House no motion shall be received unless for an amendment, for the previous question, to postpone the consideration of the main question, or to commit it." In the British Parliament and the Continental Congress the "previous question" was used to avoid discussion of a delicate subject or one which might have injurious consequences.

1789

The first Senate adopted 19 rules, of which the following relate to debate in, and taking the time of, the Senate:

2. No Member shall speak to another, or otherwise interrupt the business of the Senate, or read any printed paper while the Journals or public papers are reading, or when any Member is speaking in any debate.

3. Every Member, when he speaks, shall address the Chair, standing in his place, and when he has finished shall sit down.

4. No Member shall speak more than twice in any one debate on the same day, without leave of the Senate.

6. No motion shall be debated until the same shall be seconded.

8. When a question is before the Senate, no motion shall be received unless for an amendment, for the previous question, or for postponing the main question, or to commit, or to adjourn.

9. The previous question being moved and seconded, the question from the Chair shall be: "Shall the main question be now put?" And if the nays prevail, the main question shall not then be put.

11. When the yeas and nays shall be called for by one-fifth of the Members present, each Member called upon shall, unless for special reasons he be excused by the Senate, declare, openly and without debate, his assent or dissent to the question.

1806

When the rules were modified in 1806, reference to the previous question was omitted. It had been moved only 4 times and used only 3 times during the 17 years from 1789 to 1806. Its omission from the written rules left its status in general parliamentary law unchanged.

1807

In the following year, 1807, debate on an amendment at the third reading of a bill was also forbidden and from this time until 1846 there were no further limitations on debate in the Senate.

1841

On July 12, 1841, Henry Clay brought forth a proposal for the introduction of the "previous question," which he stated was necessary by the abuse which the minority had made of the privilege of unlimited debate. In opposing Clay's motion, Senator Calhoun said, "There never had been a body in this or any other country in which, for such a length of time, so much dignity and decorum of debate had been maintained." Clay's proposition met with very considerable opposition and was abandoned. Clay also proposed adoption of the "hour rule" for the same purpose, but his proposal was not accepted.

1846

A species of cloture is the unanimous consent agreement. This is a device for limiting debate and expediting the passage of legislation which dates back to 1846 when it was used to fix a day for a vote on the Oregon bill. Such agreements are frequently used to fix an hour at which the Senate will vote, without further debate, on a pending proposal.

1850

On July 27, 1850, Senator Douglas submitted a resolution permitting the use of the "previous question." The resolution was debated and laid on the table after considerable opposition had been expressed.

1862

As the business to be transacted by the Senate increased, proposals to limit debate were introduced frequently in the following Congresses, but none were adopted until the Civil War. On January 21, 1862, Senator Wade introduced a resolution stating that "in consideration in secret session of subjects relating to the rebellion, debate should be confined to the subject matter and limited to 5 minutes, except that 5 minutes be allowed any member to explain or oppose a pertinent amendment." On January 29, 1862, the resolution was debated and adopted.

1868

In 1868 a rule was adopted providing that: "Motions to take up or to proceed to the consideration of any question shall be determined without debate, upon the merits of the question proposed to be considered." The object of this rule, according to Senator Edmunds, was to prevent a practice which had grown up in the Senate, "when a question was pending, and a Senator wished to deliver a speech on some other question, to move to postpone the pending order to deliver their speech on the other question." According to Mr. Turnbull the object of the rules was to prevent the consumption of time in debate over business to be taken up. The rule was interpreted as preventing debate on the merits of a question when a proposal to postpone it was made.

1869

A resolution pertaining to the adoption of the "previous question" was introduced in 1869, and 3 other resolutions limiting debate in some form were introduced in the first half of 1870.

1870

Senate, on appeal, sustained decision of Chair that a Senator may read in debate a paper that is irrelevant to the subject matter under consideration (July 14, 1870).

On December 6, 1870, in the 3d session of the 41st Congress, Senator Anthony, of Rhode Island, introduced the following resolution: "On Monday next, at one o'clock, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of the Calendar and bills that are not objected to shall be taken up in their order; and each Senator shall be entitled to speak once and for five minutes, only, on each question; and this

order shall be enforced daily at one o'clock till the end of the calendar is reached, unless upon motion, the Senate should at any time otherwise order." On the following day, December 7, 1870, the resolution was adopted. This so-called Anthony rule for the expedition of business was the most important limitation of debate yet adopted by the Senate. The rule was interpreted as placing no restraints upon the minority, however, inasmuch as a single objection could prevent its application to the subject under consideration.

1871

On February 22, 1871, another important motion was adopted which had been introduced by Senator Pomeroy and which allowed amendments to appropriation bills to be laid on the table without prejudice to the bill.

1872

Since a precedent established in 1872 the practice has been that a Senator cannot be taken from the floor for irrelevancy in debate.

1872

On April 19, 1872, a resolution was introduced, "that during the remainder of the session it should be in order, in the consideration of appropriation bills, to move to confine debate by any Senator, on the pending motion to 5 minutes." On April 29, 1872, this resolution was finally adopted, 33 yeas to 13 nays. The necessity for some limitation of debate to expedite action on these annual supply measures caused the adoption of similar resolutions at most of the succeeding sessions of Congress.

1873

In March 1873, Senator Wright submitted a resolution reading in part, that debate shall be confined to and be relevant to the subject matter before the Senate, etc., and that the previous question may be demanded by a majority vote or in some modified form. On a vote in the Senate to consider this resolution the nays were 30 and the yeas 25.

1879

Chair counted a quorum to determine whether enough Senators were present to do business.

1880

From 1873 to 1880, 9 other resolutions were introduced confining and limiting debate in some form. On February 3, 1880, in the second 2d of the 46th Congress, the famous Anthony rule which was first adopted on December 7, 1870, was made a standing rule of the Senate as rule VIII. In explaining the rule, Senator Anthony said "That rule applies only to the unobjected cases on the calendar, so as to relieve the calendar from the unobjected cases. There are a great many bills that no Senator objects to, but they are kept back in their order by disputed cases. If we once relieve the calendar of unobjected cases, we can go through with it in order without any limitation of debate. That is the purpose of the proposed rule. It has been applied in several sessions and has been found to work well with the general approbation of the Senate."

1881

On February 16, 1881, a resolution to amend the Anthony rule was introduced This proposed to require the objection of at least five Senators to pass over a bill on the calendar. The resolution was objected to as a form of "previous question,' and defeated. Senator Edmunds in opposing the resolution said, "I would rather not a single bill shall pass between now and the 4th day of March than to introduce into this body, which is the only one where there is free debate and the only one which can under its rules discuss fully. I think it is of greater importance to the public interest in the long run and in the short run that every bill on your calendar should fail than that any Senator should be cut off from the right of expressing his opinion upon every measure that is to be voted upon here."

1881

Senate agreed for remainder of session to limit debate to 15 minutes on a motion to consider a bill or resolution, no Senator to speak more than once or for longer than 5 minutes (February 12, 1881).

1882

On February 27, 1882, the Anthony rule was amended by the Senate, so that if the majority decided to take up a bill on the calendar after objection was made,

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