[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 138 Reported in Senate (RS)]
Calendar No. 180
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 138
To amend rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate relating to the
consideration of nominations requiring the advice and consent of the
Senate.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 9, 2003
Mr. Frist (for himself, Mr. Miller, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Stevens, Mr.
Santorum, Mr. Kyl, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Allen, Mr. Lott, Mr. Hatch, Mr.
Cornyn, and Mr. Chambliss) submitted the following resolution; which
was referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration
June 26, 2003
Reported by Mr. Lott, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
To amend rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate relating to the
consideration of nominations requiring the advice and consent of the
Senate.
Resolved, That rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``Notwithstanding'' and
inserting ``Except as provided by paragraph 3 and
notwithstanding''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``3. (a) The provisions of this paragraph shall apply to the
considerations of nominations requiring the advice and consent of the
Senate.
``(b)(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of rule II or rule IV or
any other rule of the Senate and after a nomination requiring the
advice and consent of the Senate has been pending before the Senate for
at least 12 hours, a motion signed by 16 Senators to bring to a close
the debate on that nomination may be presented to the Senate and the
Presiding Officer, or clerk at the direction of the Presiding Officer,
shall at once state the motion to the Senate, and 1 hour after the
Senate meets on the following calendar day but 1, 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?'.
``(2) If the question in clause (1) is agreed to by three-fifths of
the Senators duly chosen and sworn then the nomination pending before
the Senate shall be the unfinished business to the exclusion of all
other business until disposed of.
``(3) After cloture is invoked, no Senator shall be entitled to
speak in all more than 1 hour on the nomination pending before the
Senate and it shall be the duty of the Presiding Officer to keep the
time of each Senator who speaks. No dilatory motion shall be in order.
Points of order and appeals from the decision of the Presiding Officer
shall be decided without debate.
``(4) After no more than 30 hours of consideration of the
nomination 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 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 30 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 1
calendar day.
``(5) Notwithstanding other provisions of this rule, a Senator may
yield all or part of his 1 hour to the majority or minority floor
managers of the nomination or to the Majority or Minority Leader, but
each Senator specified shall not have more than 2 hours so yielded to
him and may in turn yield such time to other Senators.
``(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of this rule, any Senator
who has not used or yielded at least 10 minutes, is, if he seeks
recognition, guaranteed up to 10 minutes, inclusive, to speak only.
``(c)(1) If, upon a vote taken on a motion presented pursuant to
subparagraph (b), the Senate fails to invoke cloture with respect to a
nomination pending before the Senate, subsequent motions to bring
debate to a close may be made with respect to the same nomination. It
shall not be in order to file subsequent cloture motions on any
nomination, 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 (b), except that the
affirmative vote required to bring to a close debate upon that
nomination shall be reduced by 3 votes on the second such motion, and
by 3 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 a simple majority.''.
Calendar No. 180
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 138
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
To amend rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate relating to the
consideration of nominations requiring the advice and consent of the
Senate.
_______________________________________________________________________
June 26, 2003
Reported without amendment