[Pages S1193-S1194]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

RULES OF PROCEDURE--COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, today the Committee on Rules and
Administration approved the following rules for the committee. I ask
unanimous consent that they be printed in today's Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:

Rules of Procedure of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

(Adopted Feb. 8, 2004)

TITLE I--MEETINGS OF THE COMMITTEE

1. The regular meeting dates of the committee shall be the
second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, at 9:30 a.m., in
room SR-301, Russell Senate Office Building. Additional
meetings may be called by the chairman as he may deem
necessary or pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 3 of
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate.
2. Meetings of the committee, including meetings to conduct
hearings, shall be open to the public, except that a meeting
or series of meetings by the committee on the same subject
for a period of no more than 14 calendar days may be closed
to the public on a motion made and seconded to go into closed
session to discuss only whether the matters enumerated in
subparagraphs (A) through (F) would require the meeting to be
closed followed immediately by a recorded vote in open
session by a majority of the members of the committee when it
is determined that the matters to be discussed or the
testimony to be taken at such meeting or meetings--
(A) will disclose matters necessary to be kept secret in
the interests of national defense or the confidential conduct
of the foreign relations of the United States;
(B) will relate solely to matters of the committee staff
personnel or internal staff management or procedure;
(C) will tend to charge an individual with crime or
misconduct, to disgrace or injure the professional standing
of an individual, or otherwise to expose an individual to
public contempt or obloquy, or will represent a clearly
unwarranted invasion of the privacy of an individual;
(D) will disclose the identity of any informer or law
enforcement agent or will disclose any information relating
to the investigation or prosecution of a criminal offense
that is required to be kept secret in the interests of
effective law enforcement;
(E) will disclose information relating to the trade secrets
or financial or commercial information pertaining
specifically to a given person if--
(1) an Act of Congress requires the information to be kept
confidential by Government officers and employees; or
(2) the information has been obtained by the Government on
a confidential basis, other than through an application by
such person for a specific Government financial or other
benefit, and is required to be kept secret in order to
prevent undue injury to the competitive position of such
person; or
(F) may divulge matters required to be kept confidential
under the provisions of law or Government regulations.
(Paragraph 5(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules.)
3. Written notices of committee meetings will normally be
sent by the committee's staff director to all members of the
committee at least a week in advance. In addition, the
committee staff will telephone or e-mail reminders of
committee meetings to all members of the committee or to the
appropriate staff assistants in their offices.
4. A copy of the committee's intended agenda enumerating
separate items of legislative business and committee business
will normally be sent to all members of the committee by the
staff director at least 1 day in advance of all meetings.
This does not preclude any member of the committee from
raising appropriate non-agenda topics.
5. Any witness who is to appear before the committee in any
hearing shall file with the clerk of the committee at least 3
business days before the date of his or her appearance, a
written statement of his or her proposed testimony and an
executive summary thereof, in such form as the chairman may
direct, unless the Chairman and the Ranking Minority Member
waive such requirement for good cause.

TITLE II--QUORUMS

1. Pursuant to paragraph 7(a)(1) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules, a majority of the members of the committee
shall constitute a quorum for the reporting of legislative
measures.
2. Pursuant to paragraph 7(a)(1) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules, one-third of the members of the committee
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business,
including action on amendments to measures prior to voting to
report the measure to the Senate.
3. Pursuant to paragraph 7(a)(2) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules, 2 members of the committee shall constitute a
quorum for the purpose of taking testimony under oath and 1
member of the committee shall constitute a quorum for the
purpose of taking testimony not under oath; provided,
however, that in either instance, once a quorum is
established, anyone member can continue to take such
testimony.
4. Under no circumstances may proxies be considered for the
establishment of a quorum.

TITLE III--VOTING

1. Voting in the committee on any issue will normally be by
voice vote.
2. If a third of the members present so demand, a record
vote will be taken on any question by roll call.
3. The results of roll call votes taken in any meeting upon
any measure, or any amendment thereto, shall be stated in the
committee report on that measure unless previously announced
by the committee, and such report or announcement shall
include a tabulation of the votes cast in favor of and the
votes cast in opposition to each such measure and amendment
by each member of the committee. (Paragraph 7 (b) and (c) of
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules.)
4. Proxy voting shall be allowed on all measures and
matters before the committee. However, the vote of the
committee to report a measure or matter shall require the
concurrence of a majority of the members of the committee who
are physically present at the time of the vote. Proxies will
be allowed in such cases solely for the purpose of recording
a member's position on the question and then only in those
instances when the absentee committee member has been
informed of the question and has affirmatively requested that
he be recorded. (Paragraph 7(a)(3) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules.)

TITLE IV--DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

1. The Chairman is authorized to sign himself or by
delegation all necessary vouchers and routine papers for
which the committee's approval is required and to decide in
the committee's behalf all routine business.
2. The Chairman is authorized to engage commercial
reporters for the preparation of transcripts of committee
meetings and hearings.
3. The Chairman is authorized to issue, in behalf of the
committee, regulations normally promulgated by the committee
at the beginning of each session.

[[Page S1194]]

TITLE V--DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN AND RANKING
MINORITY MEMBER

The Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, acting jointly,
are authorized to approve on behalf of the committee any rule
or regulation for which the committee's approval is required,
provided advance notice of their intention to do so is given
to members of the committee.

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