Legislative Scheduling - The daily hour of meeting is set by a House Resolution adopted on the first day of each session. The hour of meeting can be changed by order of the House at any time, usually by unanimous consent (but can also be done by motion) after consultation between the majority and minority party leadership. Members are notified of any time changes by a whip call or their respective party cloakrooms. The scheduling of legislation for House Floor action is the prerogative of the majority leadership, namely the Speaker. Usually on the last legislative day of the week, a representative of the minority leadership seeks unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute to address the House for the purpose of asking the Majority Leader about the legislative program for the upcoming week. Following the announcement, the whip offices will send Members a "Whip Notice" for the next week listing the specific bills to be considered including how each bill will receive Floor consideration (i.e. suspension, open rule...). Each office also receives copies of the legislation scheduled for Floor consideration (if available) in a "Whip Packet" which is delivered by the House Page Service. Finally, offices will receive publications from the Republican Conference (Legislative Digest) or the Democratic Caucus (House Action Reports) with summaries of the upcoming legislation. It is possible for the program to change without an announcement.

In addition to the announced schedule of major bills, legislative business may be called up for consideration by "unanimous consent." In keeping with the Speaker's announced policy, unanimous consent requests for the consideration of legislative business must be cleared by the majority and minority leaderships as well as the bipartisan leadership of the committee(s) of jurisdiction. Following clearance, these matters may come up with little notice except to the Members managing the request (i.e., the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the committee(s) of jurisdiction). There are also several special legislative days, outlined in House Rule XV. Bills may be brought up under "suspension of the rules" on Mondays and Tuesdays of each week. Corrections bills may be brought up on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month. Private bills may be considered on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month.

The Role of the Speaker - The Speaker traditionally opens the session each day but may designate a "Speaker pro tempore," a Member of the majority party, for up to three legislative days. The Speaker or Speaker Pro Tempore may preside through one-minute speeches (which date from 1937) and other House business (such as debate on special rules) until the House resolves itself into the Committee of the Whole, at which time the Speaker appoints a majority Member to preside as the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole. The Speaker or Speaker pro tempore returns to the Chair when the Committee of the Whole rises.

Morning Hour - By agreement of both the majority and minority leadership (begun in 1994), the House has instituted a "Morning Hour" period for special order speeches on Mondays and Tuesdays of each week. The convening times for Morning Hour debate are listed inside the front cover of Monday's Calendar. Morning Hour special order speeches are equally divided and rotated between majority and minority parties. Members designated by the leaders may speak for up to five minutes on any subject of their choice (except for the Majority Leader, Minority Leader and Minority Whip, who may speak for longer blocks of time). Members can sign up for time to speak in their respective cloakroom no more than one week in advance.

The Daily Order of Business - Rule XXIV outlines the daily order of business in the House, which must begin as follows:

• Prayer by the Chaplain
• Reading and Approval of the Journal
• Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

At this point in the day, the order of business set out in the rule is usually interrupted by privileged matters as allowed under the rules of the House. The following privileged matters may interrupt this order of business:

special rules reported by the Rules Committee unanimous consent requests general appropriations bill consideration of District of Columbia business conference reports motions to discharge or instruct conferees motions to send a bill to conference amendments in disagreement between the Houses questions of privilege Presidential vetoes

privileged bills reported under the right to report at any time Private Calendar business on Tuesdays motions to discharge committees Corrections Calendar bills call of committees on Wednesdays for bills on the House and Union Calendars motions to suspend the rules and pass bills out of the regular order bills rolled over from a previous day with the previous question ordered

By this combination of a general order of business with privileged interruptions, the House gives precedence to certain categories of important legislation, brings to the floor other major legislation from its calendars in any order it chooses, and provides expeditious processing for minor and noncontroversial measures.

Key Parliamentary Term

Business - The Constitution permits each House to "do business" only if a quorum is present, but it does not define "business." Consequently, each House, through its rules and precedents, has developed implicit concepts of business, some of which are similar and some are not. Business signifies a measure or matter that may be considered or is being considered, as in business on a calendar, legislative business, pending business, and unfinished business. Business also includes certain actions, such as approval of the Journal, offering of motions, referral of measures and communications, receipt of messages, and presentation of committee reports.