G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML ..................................................................... (Original Signature of Member) 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. RES. ll Authorizing remote voting by proxy in the House of Representatives and providing for official remote committee proceedings during a public health emergency due to a novel coronavirus, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. MCGOVERN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on lllllllllllllll RESOLUTION Authorizing remote voting by proxy in the House of Representatives and providing for official remote committee proceedings during a public health emergency due to a novel coronavirus, and for other purposes. 1 2 Resolved, SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION OF REMOTE VOTING BY 3 PROXY 4 GENCY DUE TO NOVEL CORONAVIRUS. 5 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding rule III, at DURING PUBLIC HEALTH EMER- 6 any time after the Speaker or the Speaker’s designee is 7 notified by the Sergeant-at-Arms, in consultation with the g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:47 May 13, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML 2 1 Attending Physician, that a public health emergency due 2 to a novel coronavirus is in effect, the Speaker or the 3 Speaker’s designee, in consultation with the Minority 4 Leader or the Minority Leader’s designee, may designate 5 a period (hereafter in this resolution referred to as a ‘‘cov6 ered period’’) during which a Member who is designated 7 by another Member as a proxy in accordance with section 8 2 may cast the vote of such other Member or record the 9 presence of such other Member in the House. 10 (b) LENGTH OF COVERED PERIOD.— 11 (1) IN as provided in para- 12 graphs (2) and (3), a covered period shall terminate 13 45 days after the Speaker or the Speaker’s designee 14 designates such period. 15 (2) EXTENSION.—If, during a covered period, 16 the Speaker or the Speaker’s designee receives fur- 17 ther notification from the Sergeant-at-Arms, in con- 18 sultation with the Attending Physician, that the 19 public health emergency due to a novel coronavirus 20 remains in effect, the Speaker or the Speaker’s des- 21 ignee, in consultation with the Minority Leader or 22 the Minority Leader’s designee, may extend the cov- 23 ered period for an additional 45 days. 24 25 (3) EARLY 08:47 May 13, 2020 TERMINATION.—If, during a covered period, the Speaker or the Speaker’s designee re- g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 GENERAL.—Except Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML 3 1 ceives further notification by the Sergeant-at-Arms, 2 in consultation with the Attending Physician, that 3 the public health emergency due to a novel 4 coronavirus is no longer in effect, the Speaker or the 5 Speaker’s designee shall terminate the covered pe- 6 riod. 7 SEC. 2. PROCESS FOR DESIGNATION OF PROXIES. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 9 (1) DESIGNATION SIGNED LETTER.—In 10 order for a Member to designate another Member as 11 a proxy for purposes of section 1, the Member shall 12 submit to the Clerk a signed letter (which may be 13 in electronic form) specifying by name the Member 14 who is designated for such purposes. 15 16 (2) ALTERATION OR REVOCATION OF DESIGNA- TION.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—At any time after sub- 18 mitting a letter to designate a proxy under 19 paragraph (1), a Member may submit to the 20 Clerk a signed letter (which may be in elec- 21 tronic form) altering or revoking the designa- 22 tion. 23 (B) AUTOMATIC REVOCATION UPON CAST- 24 ING OF VOTE OR RECORDING OF PRESENCE.— 25 If during a covered period, a Member who has g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 BY 08:47 May 13, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML 4 1 designated another Member as a proxy under 2 this section casts the Member’s own vote or 3 records the Member’s own presence in the 4 House, the Member shall be considered to have 5 revoked the designation of any proxy under this 6 subsection with respect to such covered period. 7 (3) NOTIFICATION.—Upon receipt of a letter 8 submitted by a Member pursuant to paragraphs (1) 9 or (2), the Clerk shall notify the Speaker, the Major- 10 ity Leader, the Minority Leader, and the other 11 Member or Members involved of the designation, al- 12 teration, or revocation. 13 (4) LIMITATION.—A Member may not be des- 14 ignated as a proxy under this section for more than 15 10 Members concurrently. 16 (b) MAINTENANCE AND AVAILABILITY OF LIST OF 17 DESIGNATIONS.—The Clerk shall maintain an updated 18 list of the designations, alterations, and revocations sub19 mitted or in effect under subsection (a), and shall make 20 such list publicly available in electronic form and available 21 during any vote conducted pursuant to section 3. 22 SEC. 3. PROCESS FOR VOTING DURING COVERED PERIODS. 23 (a) RECORDED VOTES ORDERED.— 24 25 (1) IN 08:47 May 13, 2020 clause 6 of rule I, during a covered period, the yeas and nays g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 GENERAL.—Notwithstanding Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML 5 1 shall be considered as ordered on any vote on which 2 a recorded vote or the yeas and nays are requested, 3 or which is objected to under clause 6 of rule XX. 4 (2) INDICATIONS OF PROXY STATUS.—In the 5 case of a vote by electronic device, a Member who 6 casts a vote or records a presence as a designated 7 proxy for another Member under this resolution 8 shall do so by ballot card, indicating on the ballot 9 card ‘‘by proxy’’. 10 (b) DETERMINATION OF QUORUM.—Any Member 11 whose vote is cast or whose presence is recorded by a des12 ignated proxy under this resolution shall be counted for 13 the purpose of establishing a quorum under the rules of 14 the House. 15 (c) INSTRUCTIONS FROM MEMBER AUTHORIZING 16 PROXY.— 17 (1) RECEIVING to cast- 18 ing the vote or recording the presence of another 19 Member as a designated proxy under this resolution, 20 the Member shall obtain an exact instruction from 21 the other Member with respect to such vote or 22 quorum call, in accordance with the regulations re- 23 ferred to in section 6. 24 (2) ANNOUNCING 25 08:47 May 13, 2020 INSTRUCTIONS.—Immediately prior to casting the vote or recording the presence g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 INSTRUCTIONS.—Prior Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML 6 1 of another Member as a designated proxy under this 2 resolution, the Member shall seek recognition from 3 the Chair to announce the intended vote or recorded 4 presence pursuant to the exact instruction received 5 from the other Member under paragraph (1). 6 (3) FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS.—A Member 7 casting the vote or recording the presence of another 8 Member as a designated proxy under this resolution 9 shall cast such vote or record such presence pursu- 10 ant to the exact instruction received from the other 11 Member under paragraph (1). 12 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZING REMOTE PROCEEDINGS IN COMMIT- 13 14 TEES. (a) AUTHORIZATION.—During any covered period, 15 and notwithstanding any rule of the House or its commit16 tees— 17 (1) any committee may conduct proceedings re- 18 motely in accordance with this section, and any such 19 proceedings conducted remotely shall be considered 20 as official proceedings for all purposes in the House; 21 (2) committee members may participate re- 22 motely during in-person committee proceedings, and 23 committees shall, to the greatest extent practicable, 24 ensure the ability of members to participate re- 25 motely; g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:47 May 13, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML 7 1 2 (3) committee members may cast a vote or record their presence while participating remotely; 3 (4) committee members participating remotely 4 pursuant to this section shall be counted for the pur- 5 pose of establishing a quorum under the rules of the 6 House and the committee; 7 8 (5) witnesses at committee proceedings may appear remotely; 9 (6) committee proceedings conducted remotely 10 are deemed to satisfy the requirement of a ‘‘place’’ 11 for purposes of clauses 2(g)(3) and 2(m)(1) of rule 12 XI; and 13 (7) reports of committees (including those filed 14 as privileged) may be delivered to the Clerk in elec- 15 tronic form, and written and signed views under 16 clause 2(l) of rule XI may be filed in electronic form 17 with the clerk of the committee. 18 (b) LIMITATION ON BUSINESS MEETINGS.—A com- 19 mittee shall not conduct a meeting remotely or permit re20 mote participation at a meeting under this section until 21 a member of the committee submits for printing in the 22 Congressional Record a letter from a majority of the mem23 bers of the committee notifying the Speaker that the re24 quirements for conducting a meeting in the regulations re25 ferred to in subsection (h) have been met and that the g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:47 May 13, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML 8 1 committee is prepared to conduct a remote meeting and 2 permit remote participation. 3 (c) REMOTE PROCEEDINGS.—Notwithstanding any 4 rule of the House or its committees, during proceedings 5 conducted remotely pursuant to this section— 6 (1) remote participation shall not be considered 7 absence for purposes of clause 5(c) of rule X or 8 clause 2(d) of rule XI; 9 (2) the chair may declare a recess subject to 10 the call of the chair at any time to address technical 11 difficulties with respect to such proceedings; 12 (3) copies of motions, amendments, measures, 13 or other documents submitted to the committee in 14 electronic form as prescribed by the regulations re- 15 ferred to in subsection (h) shall satisfy any require- 16 ment for the submission of printed or written docu- 17 ments under the rules of the House or its commit- 18 tees; 19 (4) the requirement that results of recorded 20 votes be made available by the committee in its of- 21 fices pursuant to clause 2(e)(1)(B)(i) of rule XI 22 shall not apply; 23 (5) a committee may manage the consideration 24 of amendments pursuant to the regulations referred 25 to in subsection (h); g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:47 May 13, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML 9 1 (6) counsel shall be permitted to accompany 2 witnesses at a remote proceeding in accordance with 3 the regulations referred to in subsection (h); and 4 (7) an oath may be administered to a witness 5 remotely for purposes of clause 2(m)(2) of rule XI. 6 (d) REMOTE PARTICIPANTS DURING IN-PERSON 7 PROCEEDINGS.—All relevant provisions of this section and 8 the regulations referred to in subsection (h) shall apply 9 to committee members participating remotely during in10 person committee proceedings held during any covered pe11 riod. 12 13 (e) TRANSPARENCY INGS.—Any FOR MEETINGS AND HEAR- committee meeting or hearing that is con- 14 ducted remotely in accordance with the regulations re15 ferred to in subsection (h)— 16 (1) shall be considered open to the public; 17 (2) shall be deemed to have satisfied the re- 18 quirement for non-participatory attendance under 19 clause 2(g)(2)(C) of rule XI; and 20 (3) shall be deemed to satisfy all requirements 21 for broadcasting and audio and visual coverage 22 under rule V, clause 4 of rule XI, and accompanying 23 committee rules. 24 (f) SUBPOENAS.— g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:47 May 13, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML 10 1 (1) AUTHORITY.—Any committee or chair 2 thereof empowered to authorize and issue subpoenas 3 may authorize and issue subpoenas for return at a 4 hearing or deposition to be conducted remotely 5 under this section. 6 (2) USE ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE AND 7 SEAL.—During 8 issued subpoenas may be signed in electronic form; 9 and the Clerk may attest and affix the seal of the any covered period, authorized and 10 House to such subpoenas in electronic form. 11 (g) EXECUTIVE SESSIONS.— 12 (1) PROHIBITION.—A committee may not con- 13 duct closed or executive session proceedings re- 14 motely, and members may not participate remotely 15 in closed or executive session proceedings. 16 (2) MOTION TO CLOSE PROCEEDINGS.—Upon 17 adoption of a motion to close proceedings or to move 18 into executive session with respect to a proceeding 19 conducted remotely under this section, the chair 20 shall declare the committee in recess subject to the 21 call of the chair with respect to such matter until it 22 can reconvene in person. 23 (3) EXCEPTION.—Paragraphs (1) and (2) do 24 not apply to proceedings of the Committee on Eth- 25 ics. g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 OF 08:47 May 13, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML 11 1 (h) REGULATIONS.—This section shall be carried out 2 in accordance with regulations submitted for printing in 3 the Congressional Record by the chair of the Committee 4 on Rules. 5 (i) APPLICATION TO SUBCOMMITTEES AND SELECT 6 COMMITTEES.—For purposes of this section, the term 7 ‘‘committee’’ or ‘‘committees’’ also includes a sub8 committee and a select committee. 9 SEC. 5. STUDY AND CERTIFICATION OF FEASIBILITY OF RE- 10 11 MOTE VOTING IN HOUSE. (a) STUDY CERTIFICATION.—The chair of the AND 12 Committee on House Administration, in consultation with 13 the ranking minority member, shall study the feasibility 14 of using technology to conduct remote voting in the House, 15 and shall provide certification to the House upon a deter16 mination that operable and secure technology exists to 17 conduct remote voting in the House. 18 (b) REGULATIONS.— 19 (1) INITIAL any legislative 20 day that follows the date on which the chair of the 21 Committee on House Administration provides the 22 certification described in subsection (a), the chair of 23 the Committee on Rules, in consultation with the 24 ranking minority member, shall submit regulations 25 for printing in the Congressional Record that pro- g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 REGULATIONS.—On 08:47 May 13, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML 12 1 vide for the implementation of remote voting in the 2 House. 3 (2) SUPPLEMENTAL REGULATIONS.—At any 4 time after submitting the initial regulations under 5 paragraph (1), the chair of the Committee on Rules, 6 in consultation with the ranking minority member, 7 may submit regulations to supplement the initial 8 regulations submitted under such paragraph for 9 printing in the Congressional Record. 10 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—Notwithstanding any rule of 11 the House, upon notification of the House by the Speaker 12 after the submission of regulations by the chair of the 13 Committee on Rules under subsection (b)— 14 (1) Members may cast their votes or record 15 their presence in the House remotely during a cov- 16 ered period; 17 (2) any Member whose vote is cast or whose 18 presence is recorded remotely under this section 19 shall be counted for the purpose of establishing a 20 quorum under the rules of the House; and 21 (3) the casting of votes and the recording of 22 presence remotely under this section shall be subject 23 to the applicable regulations submitted by the chair 24 of the Committee on Rules under subsection (b). g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:47 May 13, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM G:\CMTE\RU\16\REMOTE.XML 13 1 SEC. 6. REGULATIONS. 2 To the greatest extent practicable, sections 1, 2, and 3 3 of this resolution shall be carried out in accordance with 4 regulations submitted for printing in the Congressional 5 Record by the chair of the Committee on Rules. g:\VHLC\051320\051320.011.xml May 13, 2020 (8:47 a.m.) VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:47 May 13, 2020 Jkt 000000 (763451 2) PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 C:\USERS\NLWOFSY\APPDATA\ROAMING\SOFTQUAD\XMETAL\7.0\GEN\C\REMOTE.XM