S. 55
119th CONGRESS 1st Session
To preserve the constitutional authority of Congress and ensure accountability and transparency in legislation.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES · January 9, 2025 · Sponsor: Mr. Paul · Committee: Committee on Rules and Administration
Table of contents
105a. Text of bill or resolution to specify its constitutional authority.
- (a) Requirement
- (1) In general
- Any bill or resolution introduced in either House of Congress shall contain a provision citing the specific powers granted to Congress in the Constitution of the United States to enact the proposed bill or resolution, including all the provisions thereof.
- (2) Failure to comply
- Any bill or resolution that does not comply with paragraph (1) shall not be accepted by the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate.
- (1) In general
- (b) Floor consideration
- (1) In general
- The requirements of subsection (a)(1) shall apply to any bill or resolution presented for consideration on the floor of either House of Congress, including a bill or resolution reported from a committee of either House of Congress, produced by conference between the 2 Houses of Congress, or offered as a manager’s amendment.
- (2) Failure to comply
- Any bill or resolution that does not comply with paragraph (1) shall not be submitted for a vote on final passage.
- (1) In general
- (c) No waiver or modification
- Neither House of Congress, nor Congress jointly, by concurrent resolution, unanimous consent, or any other order, resolution, vote, or other means, may dispense with, or otherwise waive or modify, the requirements under this section.
105b. Text of bill or resolution to set forth current law.
- (a) Requirement
- (1) In general
- Any bill or resolution introduced in either House of Congress that is intended to amend or modify the effect of, or would have the effect of amending or modifying the effect of, any current provision of law, including the expiration date of any law, shall set forth—
- the current version of the entire section of the current law that the bill or resolution proposes to amend, verbatim;
- the amendments proposed in the bill or resolution; and
- the section of law as it would read as modified by the amendments proposed, except that this subparagraph shall not apply to any bill or resolution that would strike the text of an entire section of a law.
- Any bill or resolution introduced in either House of Congress that is intended to amend or modify the effect of, or would have the effect of amending or modifying the effect of, any current provision of law, including the expiration date of any law, shall set forth—
- (2) Failure to comply
- Any bill or resolution that does not comply with paragraph (1) shall not be accepted by the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate.
- (1) In general
- (b) Floor consideration
- (1) In general
- The requirements under subsection (a)(1) shall apply to any bill or resolution presented for consideration on the floor of either House of Congress, including a bill or resolution reported from a committee of either House of Congress, produced by conference between the 2 Houses of Congress, or offered as a manager’s amendment.
- (2) Failure to comply
- Any bill or resolution that does not comply with paragraph (1) shall not be submitted to a vote on final passage.
- (1) In general
- (c) No waiver or modification
- Neither House of Congress, nor Congress jointly, by concurrent resolution, unanimous consent, or any other order, resolution, vote, or other means, may dispense with, or otherwise waive or modify, the requirements under this section.
105c. Procedures prior to vote on bill or resolution.
- (a) In general
- (1) Requirements for vote
- A vote on final passage of a bill (except for private bills) or a resolution may not occur in either House of Congress, unless—
- the full text of the bill or resolution is published at least 7 days before the vote on an official internet website of each House of Congress, easily available to and readily usable by the public, using an open format that is platform independent, machine readable, and available without restrictions on searchability, retrieval, downloading, and indexing, separate and apart from the calendar of the Senate or the House of Representatives;
- public notice of the specific calendar week during which the vote is scheduled to take place is posted on the official internet websites described in subparagraph (A) not less than 6 days before the Monday of the calendar week during which the vote is scheduled to take place, with failure to take the vote during the noticed week requiring a new notice under this subparagraph; and
- except as provided in paragraph (2), the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate has read the full text of the bill or resolution, verbatim, to the respective body of each House of Congress, which have been called to order and physically assembled with a constitutionally required quorum to do business being present throughout the time of the full reading of the text of the bill or resolution.
- If a bill or resolution is enrolled by either the House of Representatives or the Senate, for any subsequent consideration of the enrolled bill or resolution—
- it is not necessary for the full text of the bill or resolution to be reread to the House of Congress in which the bill or resolution passed; and
- the full text of any amendment to the text of the enrolled bill or resolution shall be read, verbatim, to each House of Congress.
- A vote on final passage of a bill (except for private bills) or a resolution may not occur in either House of Congress, unless—
- (1) Requirements for vote
- (b) Affidavit
- (1) In general
- Before voting in favor of final passage of a bill (except a private bill) or resolution, each Senator and each Member of the House of Representatives, except as provided in paragraph (2), shall sign an affidavit executed under penalty of perjury under section 1621 of title 18 attesting that the Senator or Member—
- was present throughout the entire reading of each such bill or resolution, and listened attentively to such reading in its entirety; or
- prior to voting for passage of such bill or resolution, read attentively each such bill or resolution in its entirety.
- Before voting in favor of final passage of a bill (except a private bill) or resolution, each Senator and each Member of the House of Representatives, except as provided in paragraph (2), shall sign an affidavit executed under penalty of perjury under section 1621 of title 18 attesting that the Senator or Member—
- (2) Vote against passage
- A Senator or a Member of the House of Representatives shall not be required to sign an affidavit described in paragraph (1) if the Senator or Member voted against passage of the bill or resolution.
- (3) Records
- Copies of each affidavit described in paragraph (1) signed by a Senator or a Member of the House of Representatives shall be maintained by the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives, respectively.
- (1) In general
- (c) Journal
- With respect to each vote on final passage of a bill (except for a private bill) or resolution, each House of Congress shall cause to be recorded in the journal of its proceedings that the publishing, notice, reading, and affidavit requirements under this section have been satisfied.
- (d) No waiver or modification
- Neither House of Congress, nor Congress jointly, by concurrent resolution, unanimous consent, or any other order, resolution, vote, or other means, may dispense with, or otherwise waive or modify, the requirements set forth in this section.
105d. Enforcement clause.
- (a) In general
- An Act of Congress that does not comply with section 105a, 105b, or 105c shall have no force or effect and no legal, equitable, regulatory, civil, or criminal action may be brought under such an Act of Congress.
- (b) Cause of action
- Without regard to the amount in controversy, a cause of action under sections 2201 and 2202 of title 28 against the United States seeking appropriate relief (including an injunction against enforcement of any law, the passage of which did not conform to the requirements of section 105a, 105b, or 105c) may be brought by—
- a person aggrieved by an action of an officer or employee in the executive branch of the Federal Government under an Act of Congress that did not comply with section 105a, 105b, or 105c;
- a Member of Congress aggrieved by the failure of the House of Congress of which the Member is a Member to comply with section 105a, 105b, or 105c; and
- a person individually aggrieved by the failure of a Senator for the State in which the aggrieved person resides or by the failure of a Member of the House of Representatives for the District in which the aggrieved person resides to fulfill the obligations of the Senator or Member under section 105a, 105b, or 105c.
- Without regard to the amount in controversy, a cause of action under sections 2201 and 2202 of title 28 against the United States seeking appropriate relief (including an injunction against enforcement of any law, the passage of which did not conform to the requirements of section 105a, 105b, or 105c) may be brought by—