S.RES.4 S.RES.5 S.RES.6 S.RES.7 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 4
To limit certain uses of the filibuster in the Senate to improve the legislative process.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 3, 2013
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. HARKIN) submitted the following resolution; which was ordered to lie over under the rule
RESOLUTION
To limit certain uses of the filibuster in the Senate to improve the legislative process.
Resolved,
SECTION 1. MOTIONS TO PROCEED.
Paragraph 1 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by inserting at the end the following new paragraph:
`Other than a motion made during the first 2 hours of a new legislative day as described in paragraph 2 of rule VIII, consideration of a motion to proceed to the consideration of any debatable matter, including debate on any debatable motion or appeal in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 2 hours, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader or their designees. This paragraph shall not apply to motions considered nondebatable by the Senate pursuant to rule or precedent.'.
SEC. 2. EXTENDED DEBATE.
Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by striking the second undesignated paragraph and inserting the following:
`Is it the sense of the Senate that the debate shall be brought to a close? And if that question shall be decided in the affirmative by three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn, except on a measure or motion to amend the Senate rules, in which case the necessary affirmative vote shall be two-thirds of the Senators voting, a quorum being present, then cloture has been invoked.
`If that question is on disposition of a bill or joint resolution, a resolution or concurrent resolution, a substitute amendment for a bill or resolution, a motion with respect to amendments between the Houses, a conference report, or advice and consent to a nomination or treaty, and if such question shall be decided in the affirmative by a majority of Senators voting, a quorum being present, but less than three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn (or less than two-thirds of the Senators voting, a quorum being present, in the case of a measure or motion to amend the Senate rules), then it shall be in order for the Majority Leader (or his or her designee) to initiate a period of extended debate upon the measure, motion, or other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, in relation to which the motion to close debate was offered, in which case the period of extended debate shall begin one hour later.
`During a period of extended debate, such 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, except on action or motion by the Majority Leader (or his or her designee).
`During a period of extended debate it shall not be in order for a Senator other than the Majority Leader (or his or her designee) to raise a question as to the presence of a quorum, except immediately prior to a vote or when it has been more than forty-eight hours since a quorum was demonstrated. If upon a roll call it shall be ascertained that a quorum is not present, then the Senate shall adjourn to a time previously decided by order of the Senate or, if no such time has been established, then to a time certain determined by the Majority Leader, after consultation with the Minority Leader.
`During a period of extended debate a motion to adjourn or recess shall not be in order, unless made by the Majority Leader (or his or her designee) or if the absence of a quorum has been demonstrated. Notwithstanding paragraph 1 of rule XIX, there shall be no limit to the number of times a Senator may speak upon any question during a period of extended debate.
`If, during the course of extended debate, the Presiding Officer puts any question to a vote, the Majority Leader (or his or her designee) may postpone any such vote, which shall occur at a time determined by the Majority Leader, after consultation with the Minority Leader, but not later than the time at which a quorum is next demonstrated.
`If at any time during a period of extended debate no Senator seeks recognition, then the Presiding Officer shall inquire as to whether any Senator seeks recognition. If no Senator seeks recognition, then the Presiding Officer shall again put the question as to bringing debate to a close (and the Majority Leader or his or her designee may postpone such vote in accordance with the preceding paragraph), which shall be decided without further debate or intervening motion. If that question shall be decided in the affirmative by a majority of Senators voting, a quorum being present, then cloture has been invoked and the period of extended debate has ended. If that question shall be decided in the negative by a majority of Senators voting, a quorum being present, then the period of extended debate has ended.
`If cloture is invoked, then the measure, motion, other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, in relation to which the motion to close debate was offered, shall remain the unfinished business to the exclusion of all other business until disposed of.'.
SEC. 3. POST-CLOTURE DEBATE ON NOMINATIONS.
Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by striking `After no more than thirty hours of consideration of the measure, motion, or other matter on which cloture has been invoked, the Senate shall proceed, without any further debate on any question, to vote on' in the fourth undesignated paragraph and inserting `After no more than 30 hours of consideration of the measure, motion, or other matter on which cloture has been invoked, except on the question of advice and consent to a nomination other than a nomination to a position as Justice of the Supreme Court in which case consideration shall be limited to 2 hours, the Senate shall proceed, without any further debate on any question, to vote on'.
SEC. 4. CONFERENCE MOTIONS.
Rule XXVIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by--
(1) redesignating paragraphs 1 through 9 as paragraphs 2 through 10, respectively;
(2) redesignating any reference to paragraphs 1 through 9 as paragraph 2 through 10, respectively; and
(3) inserting before paragraph 2, as redesignated, the following:
`1. A nondivisible motion to disagree to a House amendment or insist upon a Senate amendment, to request a committee of conference with the House or to agree to a request by the House for a committee of conference, and to authorize the Presiding Officer to appoint conferees (or to appoint conferees), is in order and consideration of such a motion, including consideration of any debatable motion or appeal in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 2 hours.'.
END
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 5
Amending the Standing Rules of the Senate to provide for cloture to be invoked with less than a three-fifths majority after additional debate.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 3, 2013
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for Mr. HARKIN) (for himself and Ms. MIKULSKI) submitted the following resolution; which was ordered to lie over under the rule
RESOLUTION
Amending the Standing Rules of the Senate to provide for cloture to be invoked with less than a three-fifths majority after additional debate.
Resolved,
SECTION 1. SENATE CLOTURE MODIFICATION.
Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended to read as follows:
`2. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of rule II or rule IV or any other rule of the Senate, at any time a motion signed by sixteen Senators, to bring to a close the debate upon any measure, motion, other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, is presented to the Senate, the Presiding Officer, or clerk at the direction of 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 clerk 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?' And if that question shall be decided in the affirmative by three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn--except on a measure or motion to amend the Senate rules, in which case the necessary affirmative vote shall be two-thirds of the Senators present and voting--then said measure, motion, or other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, shall be the unfinished business.
`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 proposed after the vote to bring the debate to a close, unless it had been submitted in writing to the Journal Clerk by 1 o'clock p.m. on the day following the filing of the cloture motion if an amendment in the first degree, and unless it had been so submitted at least one hour prior to the beginning of the cloture vote if an amendment in the second degree. 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.
`After no more than thirty hours of consideration of the measure, motion, or other matter on which cloture has been invoked, the Senate shall proceed, without any further debate on any question, to vote on the final disposition thereof to the exclusion of all amendments not then actually pending before the Senate at that time and to the exclusion of all motions, except a motion to table, or to reconsider and one quorum call on demand to establish the presence of a quorum (and motions required to establish a quorum) immediately before the final vote begins. The thirty hours may be increased by the adoption of a motion, decided without debate, by a three-fifths affirmative vote of the Senators duly chosen and sworn, and any such time thus agreed upon shall be equally divided between and controlled by the majority and minority leaders or their designees. However, only one motion to extend time, specified above, may be made in any one calendar day.
`If, for any reason, a measure or matter is reprinted after cloture has been invoked, amendments which were in order prior to the reprinting of the measure or matter will continue to be in order and may be conformed and reprinted at the request of the amendment's sponsor. The conforming changes must be limited to lineation and pagination.
`No Senator shall call up more than two amendments until every other Senator shall have had the opportunity to do likewise.
`Notwithstanding other provisions of this rule, a Senator may yield all or part of his one hour to the majority or minority floor managers of the measure, motion, or matter or to the majority or minority leader, but each Senator specified shall not have more than two hours so yielded to him and may in turn yield such time to other Senators.
`Notwithstanding any other provision of this rule, any Senator who has not used or yielded at least ten minutes, is, if he seeks recognition, guaranteed up to ten minutes, inclusive, to speak only.
`After cloture is invoked, the reading of any amendment, including House amendments, shall be dispensed with when the proposed amendment has been identified and has been available in printed form at the desk of the Members for not less than twenty-four hours.
`(b)(1) If, upon a vote taken on a motion presented pursuant to subparagraph (a), the Senate fails to invoke cloture with respect to a measure, motion, or other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, subsequent motions to bring debate to a close may be made with respect to the same measure, motion, matter, or unfinished business. It shall not be in order to file subsequent cloture motions on any measure, motion, or other matter pending before the Senate, except by unanimous consent, until the previous motion has been disposed of.
`(2) Such subsequent motions shall be made in the manner provided by, and subject to the provisions of, subparagraph (a), except that the affirmative vote required to bring to a close debate upon that measure, motion, or other matter, or unfinished business (other than a measure or motion to amend Senate rules) shall be reduced by three votes on the second such motion, and by three additional votes on each succeeding motion, until the affirmative vote is reduced to a number equal to or less than an affirmative vote of a majority of the Senators duly chosen and sworn. The required vote shall then be an affirmative vote of a majority of the Senators duly chosen and sworn. The requirement of an affirmative vote of a majority of the Senators duly chosen and sworn shall not be further reduced upon any vote taken on any later motion made pursuant to this subparagraph with respect to that measure, motion, matter, or unfinished business.'.
SEC. 2. SPECIAL CONSIDERATION OF AMENDMENTS POSTCLOTURE.
Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by inserting at the end the following:
`After debate has concluded under this paragraph but prior to final disposition of the pending matter, the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader may each offer not to exceed 3 amendments identified as leadership amendments if they have been timely filed under this paragraph and are germane to the matter being amended. Debate on a leadership amendment shall be limited to 1 hour equally divided. A leadership amendment may not be divided.'.
END
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 6
To modify extended debate in the Senate to improve the legislative process.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 3, 2013
Mr. MERKLEY submitted the following resolution; which was ordered to lie over under the rule
RESOLUTION
To modify extended debate in the Senate to improve the legislative process.
Resolved,
SECTION 1. EXTENDED DEBATE.
Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by striking the second undesignated paragraph and inserting the following:
`Is it the sense of the Senate that the debate shall be brought to a close? And if that question shall be decided in the affirmative by three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn, except on a measure or motion to amend the Senate rules, in which case the necessary affirmative vote shall be two-thirds of the Senators voting, a quorum being present, then cloture has been invoked.
`If that question is on disposition of a bill or joint resolution, a resolution or concurrent resolution, a substitute amendment for a bill or resolution, a motion with respect to amendments between the Houses, a conference report, or advice and consent to a nomination or treaty, and if such question shall be decided in the affirmative by a majority of Senators voting, a quorum being present, but less than three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn (or less than two-thirds of the Senators voting, a quorum being present, in the case of a measure or motion to amend the Senate rules), then it shall be in order for the Majority Leader (or his or her designee) to initiate a period of extended debate upon the measure, motion, or other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, in relation to which the motion to close debate was offered, in which case the period of extended debate shall begin one hour later.
`During a period of extended debate, such 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, except on action or motion by the Majority Leader (or his or her designee).
`During a period of extended debate it shall not be in order for a Senator other than the Majority Leader (or his or her designee) to raise a question as to the presence of a quorum, except immediately prior to a vote or when it has been more than forty-eight hours since a quorum was demonstrated. If upon a roll call it shall be ascertained that a quorum is not present, then the Senate shall adjourn to a time previously decided by order of the Senate or, if no such time has been established, then to a time certain determined by the Majority Leader, after consultation with the Minority Leader.
`During a period of extended debate a motion to adjourn or recess shall not be in order, unless made by the Majority Leader (or his or her designee) or if the absence of a quorum has been demonstrated. Notwithstanding paragraph 1 of rule XIX, there shall be no limit to the number of times a Senator may speak upon any question during a period of extended debate.
`If, during the course of extended debate, the Presiding Officer puts any question to a vote, the Majority Leader (or his or her designee) may postpone any such vote, which shall occur at a time determined by the Majority Leader, after consultation with the Minority Leader, but not later than the time at which a quorum is next demonstrated.
`If at any time during a period of extended debate no Senator seeks recognition, then the Presiding Officer shall inquire as to whether any Senator seeks recognition. If no Senator seeks recognition, then the Presiding Officer shall again put the question as to bringing debate to a close (and the Majority Leader or his or her designee may postpone such vote in accordance with the preceding paragraph), which shall be decided without further debate or intervening motion. If that question shall be decided in the affirmative by a majority of Senators voting, a quorum being present, then cloture has been invoked and the period of extended debate has ended. If that question shall be decided in the negative by a majority of Senators voting, a quorum being present, then the period of extended debate has ended.
`If cloture is invoked, then the measure, motion, other matter pending before the Senate, or the unfinished business, in relation to which the motion to close debate was offered, shall remain the unfinished business to the exclusion of all other business until disposed of.'.
END
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 7
To permit the Senate to avoid unnecessary delay and vote on matters for which floor debate has ceased.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 3, 2013
Mr. MERKLEY (for Mr. LAUTENBERG) submitted the following resolution; which was ordered to lie over under the rule
RESOLUTION
To permit the Senate to avoid unnecessary delay and vote on matters for which floor debate has ceased.
Resolved,
SECTION 1. AMENDMENT TO THE STANDING RULES OF THE SENATE.
Paragraph 2 of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by--
(1) inserting after the second undesignated subparagraph the following:
`Following the filing of the cloture motion and prior to the cloture vote, as long as the matter on which cloture has been filed remains the pending matter--
`(1) there shall be no dilatory motion, including dilatory quorum calls, in order; and
`(2) if, at any time, no Senator seeks recognition on the floor, it shall be in order for the Majority Leader to put the question on cloture as long as any applicable filing deadline for first degree amendments has passed.'; and
(2) inserting after the fifth undesignated subparagraph (after the amendment by paragraph (1)) the following:
`If, at any time after cloture is invoked on an executive nomination or a motion to proceed, no Senator seeks recognition on the floor, it shall be in order for the Majority Leader to put the question on which cloture has been invoked.'.
END
