Budget Counsel Reference Directory

Organizing Resolutions for the House of Representatives

Organizing Resolutions

The House of Representatives is not a “continuing body” in the terms of Parliamentarian construction. This means that it has a limited time span over which it exists, and then upon that period’s expiration, it ceases to be an institution. It then convenes and reestablishes itself as a new “Congress”.  In doing so it adopts rules to govern the House for the period of the Congress, which under the U.S. Constitution lasts two years. The House does not recreate a new different set of rules for each Congress but rather re-adopts the rules from the previous Congress, and then amends those as necessary and votes to approve them in the form of a House Resolution. 

Below are these simple House Resolutions, with two exceptions, each is numbered as “H. Res. 5” of each Congress. At the beginning of the 104th Congress and the 110th Congress, the “organizing resolution” was numbered as H. Res. 6.

The main components of these organizing resolutions are as follows: 1) The resolving clause adopts the rules of the previous Congress; 2) the second section sets forth the amendments, if any are deemed necessary, to those rules; 3) the third section set out “Separate Orders”, which are tantamount to the Standing Rules, but these are more limited in that they are not readopted through the resolving clause of the next Congress and hence are not reestablished unless specific provision is made for them. 

Additional sections may be added with miscellaneous subject matter. 

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Reference Information for Organizing Resolutions

H. Res. 6 of the 116th Congress

H. Res. 5 of the 115th Congress

H. Res. 5 of the 114th Congress

H. Res. 5 of the 113th Congress

H. Res. 5 of the 112th Congress

H. Res. 5 of the 111th Congress

H. Res. 6 of the 110th Congress

H. Res. 5 of the 109th Congress

H. Res. 5 of the 108th Congress

H. Res. 5 of the 107th Congress

H. Res. 5 of the 106th Congress

H. Res. 5 of the 105th Congress

H. Res. 6 of the 104th Congress

H. Res. 5 of the 103rd Congress

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Congressional Record Citations

1. H. Res. 6 (116^th Congress): 163 Cong. Rec. H7-H28, Jan. 3, 2019
2. H. Res. 5 (115^th Congress): 163 Cong. Rec. H7-H28, Jan. 3, 2017
3. H. Res. 5 (114^th Congress): 161 Cong. Rec. H7-H28, Jan. 6, 2015
4. H. Res. 5 (113^th Congress): 159 Cong. Rec. H6-H22, Jan. 3, 2013
5. H. Res. 5 (112^th Congress): 157 Cong. Rec. H7-H27, Jan. 5, 2011
6. H. Res. 5 (111^th Congress): 155 Cong. Rec. H6-H20, Jan. 6, 2009
7. H. Res. 6 (110^th Congress) 153 Cong. Rec. H19-H39, H62-H85, Jan. 4-5, 2007
8. H. Res. 5 (110^th Congress): 153 Cong. Rec. H6-H19, Jan. 4, 2007
9. H. Res. 5 (109th Congress): 151 Cong. Rec. H7-H31, Jan. 4, 2005
10. H. Res. 5 (108^th Congress): 149 Cong. Rec. H7-H20,Jan. 7, 2003
11. H. Res. 5 (107^th Congress):147 Cong. Rec. H6-H18, Jan. 3, 2001
12. H. Res. 5 (106^th Congress): 145 Cong. Rec. H6-H205, Jan. 6, 1999
13. H. Res. 5 (105^th Congress): 143 Cong. Rec. H8-H27, Jan. 7, 1997
14. H. Res. 6 (104^th Congress): 141 Cong. Rec. H38, H39-H90, Jan. 4, 1995
15. H. Res. 5 (104th Congress): 141 Cong. Rec. H9-23, Jan. 4, 1995
16. H. Res. 5 (103^rd Congress): 139 Cong. Rec. H5-H34, H34-H47, H47-H54, Jan. 5, 1993

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