We are encouraged by the new rules and standard operating procedures of the House for the 118th Congress, which have already proven to be more open and inclusive of the legislative goals of rank-and-file Members of both parties. As you develop special rules for various legislation, we respectfully request that you abide by the following guidelines.
Truly Open Rules for Appropriations Bills. All appropriations bills should come to the House floor under truly open rules, since appropriating taxpayer dollars is a core function of Congress. Avoid any requirements, such as pre-printing in the Congressional Record, that would prevent a Member from generating and offering amendments in real time during bill consideration.
Consistency for Authorizing on Appropriations Bills. The vast majority of the texts of appropriations bills consists of authorizing language, yet the practice of who can authorize on appropriations bill is not consistent. House appropriators and Rules Committee members of both parties can add authorizing language to appropriations bills in committee, and senators of both parties can add authorizing language to House-passed appropriations bills on the Senate floor. But non-appropriators cannot add authorizing language to appropriations bills on the House floor. Put another way, Democrat appropriators can authorize on appropriations bills, but Republican rank-and-file cannot. This inconsistency is unwise and unfair—and must stop. We urge you to allow all Members on the House floor to offer authorizing amendments to appropriations bills.
Strive Toward an Open Amendment Process on All Bills. Until January, Members of Congress had been blocked from offering amendments since May 2016. The new Republican Majority should embrace an open process that allows all Members of the House to participate in legislating on the floor to the maximum extent possible. Therefore, the Rules Committee should strive toward making in order as many amendments as possible.
Attach “Smaller” Bills to “Must-Pass” Bills. The House has already passed many “smaller” bills this year, single-subject “rifle-shot” bills that have little chance of passing the Senate as standalones. Therefore, we encourage you, to the greatest extent possible under the House’s newly strengthened germaneness rule, to attach in the Rules Committee these House-passed and other “rifle-shot” bills onto larger legislation that many Members of Congress consider to be “must-pass.” Examples of “must-pass” bills that are likely to pass the Senate in some form this Congress include the various appropriations bills, the farm bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, and others.
Don’t Start the Clock until 6AM. We commend the inclusion of the 72-hour rule, so that Members and the American public have ample time to review legislation before its consideration. In accordance with the spirit of this rule, we ask that the 72-hour clock never start running between midnight and 6AM eastern time and that the clock only start running when the final text of a bill becomes publicly, broadly, and easily available online, no matter what time of day. Emailing final bill text to a handful of friends on K Street should not start the 72-hour clock running.
Avoid Waiving All Points of Order. A common practice in special rules of the past has been to waive all points of order against a bill and its consideration. We urge you to abandon this practice, since there would be no reason to having modernized House rules if they were never followed or enforced.
Rules Committee Republicans Should Move with a United Front. The new Republican Majority must never rely on Democrat votes in the Rules Committee to report legislation to the House floor. All rules reported from the committee must be reported out with unanimous Republican votes.
Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to working with you to further increase the participation of rank-and-file Members—and therefore the American citizenry—in the legislative process.
Respectfully,
| The Honorable Edwin Meese III Attorney General President Ronald Reagan (1985-1988) |
The Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell Chairman, Conservative Action Project Chairman, CNP Action, Inc. |
| The Honorable Paul S. Teller, Ph.D. Executive Director Advancing American Freedom |
David N. Bossie President Citizens United |
| Thomas E. McClusky Principal Greenlight Strategies, LLC |
Lori Roman President ACRU Action Fund |
| The Honorable Mary Vought Executive Director Senate Conservatives Fund |
Myron Ebell Director, Center for Energy and Environment Competitive Enterprise Institute |
| Kelly J. Shackelford, Esq. President and CEO First Liberty Institute |
Terry Schilling President American Principles Project |
| L. Brent Bozell III Founder and President Media Research Center |
Chad Connelly Founder and President Faith Wins |
| William L. Walton The Bill Walton Show Resolute Protector Foundation |
Noah Wall Executive Vice President FreedomWorks |
| Andrew Roth President State Freedom Caucus Network |
The Honorable T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr. Chief Domestic Advisor President Ronald Reagan (1987-1988) |
| David Bozell President ForAmerica |
Cleta Mitchell, Esq. Senior Legal Fellow Conservative Partnership Institute |
| Tom Jones President American Accountability Foundation |
Jenny Beth Martin Chairman Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund |
| The Honorable Bob McEwen U.S. House of Representatives Former Member, Ohio |
The Honorable David McIntosh President Club for Growth |
| Scott T. Parkinson Vice President for Government Affairs Club for Growth |
The Honorable Jim DeMint Chairman, Conservative Partnership Institute Member, US Senate (SC 2005-2013) |
| Ed Corrigan Vice Chairman, Conservative Action Project President & CEO, Conservative Partnership Institute |
The Honorable Gary L. Bauer President American Values |
| The Honorable Ken Cuccinelli II Chairman Election Transparency Initiative |
The Honorable Donald Devine Director, U.S Office of Personnel Management Ronald Reagan (1981-1985) |
| The Honorable Scott Walker President Young America’s Foundation |
Andrew Roth President State Freedom Caucus Network |
| Evan Newman State Director, SC State Freedom Caucus Network |
Steven Utroska State Director, Mississippi State Freedom Caucus Network |
| Jessie Rubino State Director, Wyoming State Freedom Caucus Network |
Nick Kerin State Director, Pennsylvania State Freedom Caucus Network |
| Connie Hair State Director, Louisiana State Freedom Caucus Network |
Collin Moseley State Director, Illinois State Freedom Caucus Network |
| Judson Phillips Founder Tea Party Nation |
Ashley Baker Director of Public Policy The Committee for Justice |
| Joseph A. Morris Partner, Morris & De La Rosa Former Assistant U.S. Attorney General, Reagan / Meese |
Walker Wildmon CEO AFA Action |
| Karen England President Capitol Resource Institute |
C. Preston Noell III President Tradition, Family, Property, Inc. |
| Allen J. Hebert Chairman American-Chinese Fellowship of Houston |
Lee Beaman CEO Beaman Ventures |
| Kay R. Daly President Coalition for a Fair Judiciary |
Joan Holt Lindsey President Lindsey Communications |
| Eaton Hopkins Principal MorningStar Investment Group, LLC |
William P. Mills, III Member Council for National Policy |
| Robert Fischer Meeting Coordinator Conservatives of Faith |
Frank Pavone National Director Priests for Life |
| Saulius “Saul” Anuzis President 60 Plus Association |
Amy Kremer Chairwoman Women for America First |
| James L. Martin Founder/Chairman 60 Plus Association |
Sandy Rios Director of Governmental Affairs AFA |
| Kristen A. Ullman, JD President Eagle Forum |
Brigitte Gabriel Chairwoman and CEO ACT For America |
| The Honorable George K. Rasley Jr. Managing Editor ConservativeHQ.com |
Seton Motley President Less Government |
| Gerard Kassar State Chairman NYS Conservative Party |
The Honorable Richard Hayes State Representative State of Texas |
| Anne Schlafly Cori Chairman Eagle Forum |
Dr. Virginia Armstrong Law and Worldview Chairman Eagle Forum |
| Gary Marx President Madison Strategies |
Debbie Wuthnow President iVoterGuide |
| The Honorable Mike Hill Former Member Florida State House |
Jack Park Conservative Activist and Donor |
| Mario Navarro da Costa Director, Washington Bureau Tradition, Family, Property |
Dr. Allen Unruh Founder National Abstinence Clearinghouse |
| The Honorable Taffy Howard Former State Representative State of SD |
Aaron Aylward District 6 Representative of South Dakota SD Freedom Caucus |
| Michelle Easton President Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women |
Darin Gaub Co-founder Restore Liberty |
| Richard Rounsavelle Trustee MRC |
Ambassador Henry F. Cooper Reagan Chief Defense and Space Negotiator Former SDI Director |
| Craig Shirley Reagan Biographer Presidential Historian |
Pastor Paul Blair Reclaiming America for Christ Liberty Pastors Network |
| Rod D. Martin Founder & CEO Martin Capital, Inc. |
Guillermo J. Aragon Chief Strategy Officer Martin Capital, Inc. |
| Christina Murphy, Esq. President The Martin Foundation |
Lourdes Cosio Campaign for the American Future |
| Dr. Jerome R. Corsi CorsiNation.com |
Bishop E.W. Jackson Sr. President STAND Foundation, Inc. |
| Natasha Srdoc, MBA Co-Founder America’s Roundtable and International Leaders Summit |
Joel Anand Samy Co-Founder America’s Roundtable and International Leaders Summit |
| The Honorable Diana Denman Presidential Appointee President Ronald Reagan |
The Honorable Penny Pullen President Life Advocacy Resource Project |
All organizations listed for IDENTIFICATION purposes only.
