Words Taken Down    (Clauses 4 and 5 of Rule XIV)

• A Member should avoid impugning the motives of another Member, the Senate or the President, using offensive language, or uttering words that are otherwise deemed unparliamentary. These actions are strictly against House Rules and are subject to a demand that the words be taken down. A demand that the Member’s words be taken dwon results in the clerk reporting the words and the chair ruling on the propriety of the words. (If the demand is made in the Committee of the Whole, the Committee rises and reports them to the House where the Chair rules on their propriety).

• The offending Member may obtain unanimous consent to withdraw the inappropriate words or the demand may be withdrawn. Following such a withdrawal, the Member proceeds in order. However, if the Member’s words are ruled out of order, they may be stricken from the Congressional Record by motion or unanimous consent, and the Member will not be allowed to speak again on that day except by motion or unanimous consent.

Relevancy of Debate    (Clause 1 of Rule XIV)

• A Member is required to confine himself to the question under debate and may not stray from the subject under discussion. If so, a member may be subject to a point of order that their remarks are not relevant to the debate.

Speaking Out of Order    (Clause 2 of Rule XIV)

• If a Member has something to say which is not relevant to the debate and just cannot wait until later, they may ask unanimous consent to "speak out of order" for a period of time (usually a minute or two). If granted, the Member may then speak on the unrelated subject for the allotted time.

Addressing the Chair    (Clause 1 of Rule XIV)

• A Member must stand while speaking . A Member must address the Chair in their remarks (Mister or Madam Speaker; Mister or Madam Chairman), and refrain from addressing other Members, the President, the gallery, or the television viewing audience.

Walking in the Well    (Rule XIV)

• Members should avoid walking between the Chair and any Member addressing the House and Members should not walk through the well of the House when Members are speaking.

Dress Code and Electronic Devices    (Clause 7 of Rule XIV)

• Members should dress appropriately, which has traditionally been considered to include a coat and tie for male Members and appropriate attire for female Members; Members should not wear overcoats or hats on the floor while the House is in session. No eating, drinking, or smoking is permitted. The use of personal electronic equipment, including cellular phones and laptop computers, is banned on the floor of the House.

Forms of Address    (Clause 1 of Rule XIV)

• Members of the House are never addressed by name on the House Floor. They are " the Gentleman from New York," or "the Gentleman from New York, Mr. Jones" or "the Gentlewoman from Maryland," or " the Gentlewoman from Maryland, Mrs. Smith."

NOTE: All of the same cautions and prohibitions mentioned above with respect to conduct during debate in the Committee of the Whole also apply to conduct in the House.

DECORUM IN THE HOUSE AND IN COMMITTEES

Under clause 1(a)(1) of Rule XI, the rules of the House are the rules of its committees as far as applicable. Consequently, Members should comport themselves with the rules of decorum and debate in the House and in Committees specifically with regard to references to the President of the United States as stated in Sec. 370 of the House Rules and Manual.

As stated in Cannon’s Precedents, on January 27, 1909, the House adopted a report in response to improper references in debate to the President. That report read in part as follows:

"It is... the duty of the House to require its Members in speech or debate to preserve that proper restraint which will permit the House to conduct its business in an orderly manner and without unnecessarily and unduly exciting animosity among its Members or antagonism from those other branches of the Government with which the House is correlated."

As a guide for debate, it is permissible in debate to challenge the President on matters of policy. The difference is one between political criticism and personally offensive criticism. For example, a Member may assert in debate that an incumbent President is not worthy of re-election, but in doing so should not allude to personal misconduct. By extension, a Member may assert in debate that the House should conduct an inquiry, or that a President should not remain in office.

Under section 370 of the House Rules and Manual it has been held that a Member could:

• refer to the government as "something hated, something oppressive."
• refer to the President as "using legislative or judicial pork."
• refer to a Presidential message as a "disgrace to the country."
• refer to unnamed officials as "our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs."

Likewise, it has been held that a member could not:

• call the President a "liar."
• call the President a "hypocrite."
• describe the President’s veto of a bill as "cowardly."
• charge that the President has been "intellectually dishonest."
• refer to the President as "giving aid and comfort to the enemy."
• refer to alleged "sexual misconduct on the President’s part."

However, the Senate rules on decorum and debate do not prohibit personal references to the President. Senate Rule XIX governing decorum and debate is applied only to fellow Senators and "does not extend to the President, the Vice President, or Administration officials and a Senator cannot be called to order under rule XIX for comments or remarks about them..." (Senate Procedure, p. 741). The Senate rules also provide that Jefferson’s Manual is not part of the Senate rules (Ibid, p.754).

By contrast, the rules of the House specifically provide that Jefferson’s Manual does govern the proceedings of the House where applicable (House Rules and Manual, p. 804). Section 370 of Jefferson’s Manual states that the rule in Parliament prohibiting Members from "speak{ing} irreverently or seditiously against the King" has been interpreted to prohibit personal references against the President (Ibid. p. 175). In addition, Speakers of the House have consistently reiterated (including in an opening day statement in the 105th Congress), and the House has voted, to support the proposition that it is not in order in debate to engage in personalities toward the President. The Chair enforces this rule of decorum on his own initiative.