Morning Hour Debates: Current House Practices







Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress



On Mondays and Tuesdays, the House of Representatives meets earlier than the hour established
for that day’s session for a period called “morning hour debates” (also known as “morning hour
speeches”). This period provides a rare opportunity for non-legislative debate in the House;
remarks in the House are usually limited to pending legislative business. During morning hour
debates, individual Members deliver speeches on topics of their choice for up to five minutes.
The majority and minority leaders give the Speaker a list showing how each party’s time for
morning hour debates will be allocated among its Members. The chair follows this list in
recognizing Members for morning hour debates. At the conclusion of morning hour debates, the
House recesses until the starting time for that day’s session. This report examines current House
practices for morning hour debates and how these debates are used. It will be updated if rules and
procedures change.






Backgr ound ..................................................................................................................................... 1
Governing Authorities.....................................................................................................................1
Days and Meeting Times.................................................................................................................2
Recognition Practices......................................................................................................................3
Reservation Requirements...............................................................................................................3
Various Uses of Morning Hour Debates..........................................................................................3
Author Contact Information............................................................................................................4






Morning hour debates have been a part of House floor procedure only since the 103rd Congress.1
They began on February 23, 1994, for a 90-day trial period under procedures outlined in a joint 2
leadership unanimous consent agreement (formally, “a standing order of the House”). Morning
hour debates were created, in part, to offset the new restrictions on special order speeches that
took effect the same day. These restrictions, such as a ban on special orders after midnight and a
four-hour limitation on longer special orders, scaled back opportunities for non-legislative debate 3
available through special orders.
The 1994 agreement establishing morning hour debates for a 90-day trial period was later rd
extended to cover the remainder of the 103 Congress. Morning hour debates continued in the th
104 Congress under a slightly modified unanimous consent agreement. The modification
concerned the length and starting time of morning hour debates on Tuesdays “after the first
Tuesday in May” (see the “Days and Meeting Times” section for more information). An identical
unanimous consent agreement (agreed to on January 4, 2007) governs morning hour speeches in th4
the 110 Congress.

Morning hour debates are not provided for in the rules of the House. Instead, they are a
unanimous consent practice of the chamber. The House gives unanimous consent to holding
morning hour debates when it agrees to the joint leadership unanimous consent agreement th
governing these debates. In the 110 Congress, the chair refers to this agreement at the start of the
morning hour debate period when he announces, “[p]ursuant to the order of the House of January
4, 2007, the Chair will now recognize ....” The unanimous consent agreement governs recognition
for morning hour debates and establishes the days and meeting times for these debates (for more
information, see later sections of this report).
During morning hour debates, Members must abide not only by the unanimous consent
agreement but also by the rules of the House, the chamber’s precedents, and the Speaker’s
announced policies. Relevant House rules include those governing debate, decorum, and the
Speaker’s power of recognition. House precedents discuss how the chamber has interpreted and 5
applied its rules. There is not an established body of precedents for morning hour debates
because these debates are a relatively new feature of House floor procedure.

1 Under House Rules XVII, clause 1(b), a Membershall be confined to the question under debate.” Besides morning
hour debates, one-minute speeches (usually at the start of every day) and special orders (5 to 60 minutes in length,
usually at the end of every day) also provide opportunities for non-legislative debate in the House.
2 The House consented to this agreement on Feb. 11, 1994. Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 140, Feb. 11,
1994, p. H542.
3 These new restrictions were announced by the Speaker on Feb. 11, 1994. Congressional Record, daily edition, vol.
140, Feb. 11, 1994, p. H542.
4 Congressional Record, daily edition, Jan. 4, 2007, p. H. 40.
5 These precedents are published in several parliamentary reference publications. For more information, see CRS
Report RL30787, Parliamentary Reference Sources: House of Representatives, by Richard S. Beth and Megan Suzanne
(continued...)





The term “Speaker’s announced policies” refers to the Speaker’s policies on certain aspects of
House procedure such as decorum in debate, the conduct of electronic votes, and recognition for
one-minute and special order speeches. While the Speaker’s announced policies do not govern
recognition for morning hour debates (the unanimous consent agreement governs recognition),
they do regulate television coverage of morning hour debates. The Speaker’s policies prohibit
House-controlled television cameras from panning the chamber during the morning hour debate
period. Instead, a caption (also called a “crawl”) appears at the bottom of the television screen 6
indicating that the House is conducting morning hour debates.

Morning hour debates are in order only on Mondays and Tuesdays. They take place infrequently
on Mondays because the House is not always in session that day.
The starting time and length of morning hour debates are established by the joint leadership
unanimous consent agreement. The House convenes for Monday morning hour debates 90
minutes earlier than the time established for that day’s session. For example, if the House is
scheduled to meet at noon, the morning hour debate period begins at 10:30 a.m. The Monday
morning hour debate period can last up to one hour, with a maximum of 30 minutes of debate on
each side. The full hour is rarely used. Tuesday morning hour speeches on or before May 14,

2007, take place in the same manner as Monday morning hour debates. The agreement provides,


however, that Tuesday morning hour debates May 14, 2007, begin 60 minutes before the
chamber’s meeting hour for a maximum duration of 50 minutes, with 25 minutes allocated to
each side.
The different procedures for Tuesday morning debates after early May were first established in 7
the joint leadership unanimous consent agreement of May 12, 1995. These procedures, which are th
included in the agreement for the 110 Congress, are designed to accommodate the chamber’s th
practice of convening earlier for legislative business after early May. In the 105 Congress, the
procedures were only on those Tuesdays after early May when the House was scheduled to meet 8
at 10:00 a.m. On Tuesdays after early May when the chamber’s appointed meeting hour was a
later time (e.g., 12:00 noon), the Tuesday morning debates took place in the same manner as
Monday morning hour debates.
When Monday and Tuesday morning hour debates are completed, the House recesses until the
meeting hour established for that day’s session. The daily prayer, the pledge of allegiance, and
approval of the previous day’s Journal take place when the House meets after this recess.

(...continued)
Lynch.
6 The Speaker first announced this policy on Jan. 4, 1995. The policy was extended to cover the 110th Congress on Jan.
4, 2007. See Congressional Record, daily edition, Jan. 4, 2007, p. H40.
7 Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 141, May 12, 1995, p. H4901.
8 For example, see Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 143, July 29, 1997, pp. H5921-H5926. Morning hour
debates began at 9:00 a.m. on this day when the meeting hour was set for 10:00 a.m.






The joint leadership unanimous consent agreement requires that the majority and minority leaders
give the Speaker a list showing how each party’s time for morning hour debates will be allocated
among its Members. The chair follows this list in recognizing Members for morning hour
debates. A majority party Representative appointed as “Speaker pro tempore” often presides in
the chair during morning hour debates. During each morning hour debate period, he alternates
recognition between the majority and minority for both the initial morning hour speech (i.e., if a
majority Member is recognized for the first speech on Monday, a minority Member is recognized
for first speech on Tuesday) and subsequent ones. Individual Members must limit their morning
hour debate speech to five minutes or less. Only the majority leader, minority leader, or the
minority whip may deliver a morning hour debate speech longer than five minutes.

Members reserve time for morning hour debates through their party leadership: Democratic
Representatives reserve time through the Office of the Minority Leader, and Republican Members
do so through the Republican cloakroom or the party leadership desk on the House floor.
Reservations can be made no earlier than one week before the speech date. While most Members
reserve five minutes for their morning hour speech, some Representatives reserve as little as one
minute.

Individual Members often use the morning hour debate period to deliver speeches on subjects
unrelated to legislation before the House. They deliver eulogies and tributes to individuals and
organizations from their congressional district. They also use the period to deliver speeches on
broad policy issues and to present their views on local, national, and international events.
Because morning hour debates take place early in the day, they are sometimes used by individual
Members and the party leadership to share information relevant to that day’s session. For
example, Members deliver morning hour speeches to explain a bill they are introducing that day
and to invite cosponsors. The chairman of the Rules Committee has spoken during morning hour 9
debates to announce an emergency meeting of the committee. This use of morning hour debates
to disseminate information among colleagues parallels how Members often employ one-minute
speeches as a visual form of the “Dear Colleague” letter.
On occasion, Members of the same party use the morning hour debate period to deliver a series of
speeches about the party’s views on a particular bill or policy issue. For example, on February 11,

1997, four minority party Members delivered morning hour debate speeches on campaign finance 10


reform. This coordinated use of morning hour debates by party Members is similar to how the
parties sometimes use “leadership special orders” (i.e., the first hour of longer special orders that

9 Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 143, Apr. 14, 1997, p. H1443.
10 Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 143, Feb. 11, 1997, pp. H409-H411.





is usually reserved for the party’s leadership or a designee) to focus on a specific theme with
participation from other party Members.
Judy Schneider
Specialist on the Congress
jschneider@crs.loc.gov, 7-8664