Order Code RL30135
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
One-Minute Speeches:
Current House Practices
April 12, 1999
Mary Mulvihill
Consultant in American National Government
updated by
Judy Schneider
Government and Finance Division
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress
ABSTRACT
This report examines current House practices governing recognition for one-minute speeches,
the delivery of one minutes, and their insertion in the Congressional Record. Various uses of
one minutes and current reform proposals are also discussed. This report will be updated if
rules and procedures change.Updated May 23, 2003
Judy Schneider
Specialist on the Congress
Government and Finance Division
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress
One-Minute Speeches:
Current House Practices
Summary
Recognition for one-minute speeches (commonly called "one minutes") in the
House of Representatives is the prerogative of the Speaker. A period for one minutes
usually takes place at the beginning of the legislative day after the daily prayer, the
Pledge of Allegiance, and approval of the previous day's Journal. During this time,
Representatives ask unanimous consent to address the House for one minute on a
topic of their choice. In addition, one minute speeches are often permitted after
legislative business ends, but before special order speeches begin.
The rules of House do not provide for one-minute speeches. Instead, one
minutes have evolved as a unanimous consent practice of the chamber. During oneminute speeches, Members must abide by the rules of the House, the chamber's
precedents, and the "Speaker's announced policies," in that order. The term
"Speaker's announced policies" refers to the Speaker's policies on certain aspects of
House procedure, such as recognition for one minutes.
Representatives seeking recognition for one minutes sit in the first row on their
party's side of the chamber. From the chair's vantage point, Republican Members sit
on the left side of the chamber and Democratic Members on the right side. The chair
moves from his right to left in recognizing Members on each side of the aisle. When
recognized by the chair, individual Members ask unanimous consent to address the
House for one minute and to revise and extend their remarks. Permission is almost
always granted. Members deliver one-minute speeches from the well of the chamber.
They are limited to one minute and cannot ask unanimous consent for additional
time.
Instead of delivering a one-minute speech on the House floor, a Member may ask
ask unanimous consent to insert the speech in the House section of the Congressional
Record.
Members need not reserve one-minute speeches in advance through their party's
leadership. Nevertheless, the party leadership communication arms—known as the
"Democratic Message Group" and the "Republican Theme Team"—sometimes
coordinate party Members to deliver one minutes on the issue designated as the
party's daily message. These party Members usually receive priority seating for
recognition purposes.
This report will be updated if rules and procedures change.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Governing Authorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Recognition for One-Minute Speeches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Coordination Role of Party Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Delivering One-Minute Speeches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Inserting One-Minute Speeches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Various Uses of One Minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Reform Proposals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Letters to the Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Civility in the House of Representatives Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
"Civility" Hearings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
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3
4
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7
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One-Minute Speeches:
Current House Practices
Introduction
One-minute speeches (commonly called "one minutes") provide one of the few
opportunities for non-legislative debate in the House, where debate is almost always
confined to the pending legislative business.1 Recognition for one-minute speeches
is the prerogative of the Speaker. A period for one minutes usually takes place at the
beginning of the legislative day after the daily prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and
approval of the previous day's Journal.2 During this time, Representatives ask
unanimous consent to address the House for one minute on a topic of their choice.
In addition, one minutes are often permitted after legislative business ends but before
special order speeches begin.
This report examines current House practices governing recognition for oneminute speeches, the delivery of one minutes, and their insertion in the Congressional
Congressional Record. Various uses of one minutes and reform proposals are also
discussed.
Governing Authorities
One-minute speeches are not provided for in the rules of House. Instead, they
have evolved as a unanimous consent practice of the chamber. Members must ask
unanimous consent to address the House for one minute (for more information, see
"Delivering One-Minute Speeches," below").
During one-minute speeches, Members must abide by the rules of the House, the
the chamber's precedents, and the "Speaker's announced policies," in that order. Relevant
Relevant House rules include those governing debate, decorum, and the Speaker's
power of
recognition. House precedents discuss how the chamber has interpreted and applied
1
Under House Rule XVII, clause 1(b)(1), a Member "shall be confined to the question under
debate." Besides one-minute speeches, special orders (usually every day; five to 60 minutes
in length) and morning hour debates (on Mondays and Tuesdays only; up to five minutes in
length) provide other opportunities for non-legislative debate in the House.
2
The Journal is the official record of the proceedings of the House.
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applied its rules.3 Under House precedents, for example, individual Members can be
recognized for a one-minute speech only once each legislative day.4
The term "Speaker's announced policies" refers to the Speaker's policies on
certain aspects of House procedure, such as decorum in debate, the conduct of
electronic votes, and recognition for one minutes and special orders. These policies
are usually announced on the opening day of a new Congress. The Speaker's current
policies on recognition for one minutes are those that were first announced on August
8, 1984. These policies have been followed in each succeeding Congress.5
Recognition for One-Minute Speeches
Recognition for one-minute speeches is the prerogative of the Speaker. Under
his power of recognition (House Rule XVII, clause 2), the Speaker decides when he
will entertain unanimous consent requests to address the House for one minute, and
how many one minute speeches he will allow.
According to the Speaker's announced policies, the chair "reserves the right to
limit one-minute speeches to a certain period of time or to a special place in the
program on any given day, with notice to the leadership."6 When pressing legislative
business is before the House, the Speaker may decide to limit the number of oneminute speeches, to postpone one minutes until after legislative business, or to forego
them altogether.
A period for one-minute speeches (hereafter referred to as "the one-minute
speech period") usually takes place at the beginning of each legislative day after the
daily prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and approval of the previous day's Journal.
The Speaker determines the number of one minutes permitted during this period. This
This number varies from day to day. The Speaker might allow an unlimited number of
of speeches one day and then limit the number the following day (e.g., allow only 10 one
one minutes on each side of the aisle). The majority and minority leadership usually
receive advance notification of any limitations.
A majority party Representative appointed as "Speaker pro tempore" usually
presides in the chair during the one-minute speech period. In recent practice, the
3
These precedents are published in several parliamentary reference publications. For more
information, see U.S. Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, Parliamentary
Reference Sources: House of Representatives, by Mary E. Mulvihill, CRS report 97-530
GOV Thomas P. Carr report RL30787 GOV
(Washington: updated periodically).
4
U.S. Congress, House, House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures
of the House, 104th108th Cong., 2nd1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 19962003), "Consideration and Debate"
chapter, sec. 50, p. 406426.
5
The 1984 announcement of these policies is provided in Congressional Record, daily
edition,
vol. 130, Aug. 8, 1984, p. H8552. The Speaker's announced policies for the 106th Congress
108th
Congress continued the application of these 1984 policies. See Congressional Record, daily
edition,
vol. 145, Jan. 6, 1999, p. H219.
147, January 7, 2003, p. H22.
6
Ibid.
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chair often announces how many one minutes will be allowed before the one-minute
speech period begins.
Representatives seeking recognition for one minutes sit in the first row on their
party's side of the chamber. From the chair's vantage point, Republican Members sit
on the left side of the chamber and Democratic Members on the right side. In
recognizing Members for one minutes, the chair observes the following announced
policies of the Speaker:
"The chair will alternate recognition for one-minute speeches between majority and
minority Members, in the order in which they seek recognition in the well under present
practice from the Chair's right to the Chair's left, with possible exceptions for Members
of the leadership and Members having business requests."7
Because the chair moves from his right to left in recognizing Members, the
Republican Member seated closest to the center aisle is recognized first on the
Republican side, and the Democratic Member seated closest to the Speaker's lobby
is recognized first on the Democratic side. Recognition alternates from majority to
minority throughout the period for one minutes.
In addition to the one-minute speech period, Members can usually ask
unanimous consent to deliver a one minute after legislative business ends but before
special order speeches begin.
Coordination Role of Party Leadership
Members do not have to reserve one-minute speeches in advance through their
party's leadership.8 Nevertheless, the party leadership communication arms—known
as the "Democratic Message Group" and the "Republican Theme Team"—sometimes
coordinate party Members to deliver one minutes on the issue designated as the
party's daily message. On days when the number of one-minute speeches is limited,
these party Members usually receive priority seating for recognition purposes (i.e., on
on the right side of the party's first row). The daily message usually presents the
party's
views on specific legislation before the House or its position on a policy or political
issue. In the 106th Congress, the office of Representative DeLauro coordinates the
participation of Democratic Members in one minutes focusing on the party's daily
message. The office of Representative Kingston performs the same coordination role
for Republican Members.
7
Ibid.
8
political issue.
7
8
Ibid.
By contrast, special order and morning hour speeches must be reserved in advance through
each party's leadership.
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Delivering One-Minute Speeches
When recognized by the chair, individual Members ask unanimous consent to
address the House for one minute and to revise and extend their remarks.9 Permission
Permission is almost always granted. Members speak from the well of the chamber.
They are
limited to one minute and cannot ask unanimous consent for additional
time. When
the chair announces that one minute has expired, the Member can finish
the sentence
underway but must then stop speaking. The chair's calculation of time consumed
consumed during a one-minute speech "is not subject to challenge on a point of
order."10
When Members cannot finish their remarks in one minute, the permission to
extend allows them to complete their speech in writing in the Congressional Record.
The undelivered portion of their speech appears in a distinctive typeface. Permission
to extend also authorizes Members to insert extraneous material such as a newspaper
article or a constituent letter during a one-minute speech. The inserted material
appears in a distinctive typeface.
Joint Committee on Printing regulations for publication of the Congressional
Record provide that "any extraneous matter included in any statement by a Member"
be printed in the "Extensions of Remarks" section of the Congressional Record but
noted in the Members' remarks.11 This requirement is not always observed. A review
review of 10 one minutes containing extraneous matter from January to July 1997
found that
in each case the extraneous matter was printed in the House section (not
in the
"Extensions of Remarks") of the Congressional Record along with the one-minute
oneminute speech.
The Joint Committee on Printing's regulations also require that one-minute
speeches longer than 300 words "delivered during the morning business" (i.e., during
the one-minute speech period at the start of the day) be printed "following the
business of the day." In practice, these one minutes usually appear in the House
section of the Congressional Record immediately before the five-minute special
orders.
Inserting One-Minute Speeches
Instead of delivering a one-minute speech on the House floor, a Member may
insert the speech in the House section of the Congressional Record alongside the one
minutes delivered on the floor that day. The Representative asks unanimous consent
9
Permission to revise gives Members the opportunity to make technical, grammatical, and
typographical corrections only. Permission to extend authorizes the insertion of material such
such as a newspaper article or constituent letter during the one-minute speech.
10
10
11
House Practice, "Consideration and Debate" chapter, sec. 50, p. 406.
11
426.
"Extensions of Remarks" is the section where Members of the House can insert "a speech
that was not actually delivered on the floor" or "extraneous materials related to the subject
under discussion," with the House's permission. There are three sections in the daily
Congressional Record: 1) the proceedings of the House; 2) the proceedings of the Senate;
and 3) the "Extensions of Remarks."
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minutes delivered on the floor that day. The Representative asks unanimous consent
to insert the one-minute speech in the Congressional Record and yields back his
time.
The inserted speech is published in a distinctive typeface.
The practical difference between inserting and delivering a one-minute speech
is the speech's audience. Inserted one minutes are available to readers of the hard
copy and online versions of the Congressional Record. By contrast, delivered one
minutes reach a larger audience through C-SPAN's televised coverage of House floor
proceedings.
Various Uses of One Minutes
The unrestricted content and short length of one-minute speeches make them an
attractive communication tool for individual Members and the party leadership. In
addition, the usual position of one minutes at the start of day means they can be
covered by broadcast news organizations in time for evening news programs.
Individual Members often use one minutes to share information with colleagues
such as announcing a new bill they have introduced or explaining a floor amendment
they will offer later that day. In practice, these one minutes serve as a visual "Dear
Colleague" letter. Representatives also use one-minute speeches to deliver eulogies
and tributes concerning individuals and organizations in their congressional district.
One minutes also provide Members with an opportunity to express their views on
bills, policy issues, and local, national, and international events.
For junior Members, one-minute speeches provide a valuable debate
opportunity.
Representative Chabot highlighted this point in a 105th Congress one-minuteoneminute speech
on the importance of one minutes: "As my colleagues know, a
freshman or
sophomore Member might sit at a committee meeting for 2 hours before
being able
to pose one question to a witness. He or she, if lucky, might get 30
seconds to debate
a pending bill on the floor. One-minute speeches give these
Members and the people
they represent back home a chance to be heard."12
Some Representatives have made one-minute speeches a regular part of their
media and communication strategy. By delivering one minutes, they reach a national
audience of C-SPAN television viewers and webcast users, including constituents.
Some Members also disseminate their one-minute speeches through other channels,
such as mailing constituents a copy of the speech printed in Congressional Record or
or providing local news organizations with a video press release.
As mentioned earlier, the Democratic Message Group and the Republican Theme
Theme Team sometimes use one-minute speeches as a vehicle for transmitting the
party's
daily message. The one-minute speech period provides a forum where different
different Members of the party can speak on the designated theme to a national
audience. This
use of one minutes has been criticized by some Representatives and congressional
congressional observers. During a 104th Congress special order speech on civility in the House, one
Member stated that one minutes in the morning had "become theme-team efforts just
12
Rep. Steve Chabot, "Morning 1-Minute Speeches Serve Important Function," Congressional
Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 143, March 5, 1997, p. H727.
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in the House, one Member stated that one minutes in the morning had "become
theme-team efforts just to excite and aggravate, to get sound bites for television,
rather than a healthy
discourse on the issues."13
Reform Proposals
Breaches in decorum during one-minute speeches in the 104th and 105th
Congresses have prompted some reform proposals that range from eliminating one
minutes to postponing them until the completion of legislative business. These
proposals have been advanced in letters to the Speaker, in testimony at congressional
hearings, and in the Civility in the House of Representatives report that was prepared
for the March 1997 bipartisan retreat of House Members. The 1999 report updated
the data for the 105th Congress but did not contain recommendations.14
Letters to the Speaker
In August 1996, Representative Archer and former Representative Beilenson
sent a letter to the Speaker urging him to stop recognizing Members for one-minute
speeches at the start of the day. Signed by a bipartisan group of 50 Members, the
letter proposed that one minutes only be permitted after the completion of legislative
business. The letter noted that one minutes had increasingly become "a series soundbite assaults often prepared not by Members themselves, but by Republican and
Democratic political staff who have found this format to be highly conducive to the
kinds of attacks that used to be reserved for campaign commercials."15 Postponing
one minutes until after legislative business, the letter's signatories argued, would
reduce this manner of using one minutes.
On September 5, 1996, the proposal in the letter was discussed at a joint hearing
of the two subcommittees of the House Rules Committee. Representative Archer
testified that "Partisan and poisonous 1-minute speeches unfavorably set the tone for
our legislative business . . . . If we move 1-minutes to the conclusion of the day,
Members will be less inclined to focus on the negative, politically charged messages,
and 1-minutes would once again turn to their original positive intent."16 In separate
testimony, Representative Beilenson noted that one-minute speeches "often contain
purposefully written, catchy phrases that make good sound bites." Moving one
13
Rep. W.J. (Billy) Tauzin, remarks in the House, Congressional Record, daily edition, vol.
142, May 1, 1996, p. H4375.
14
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Civility in the House of Representatives (Philadelphia: Annenberg
Annenberg Public Policy Center, 1997), 108 p. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Civility in the
House of
Representatives: the 105th Congress (Philadelphia: Annenberg Public Policy
Center, 1999),
18 p.
15
The full text of this letter is reprinted in: U.S. Congress, House Committee on Rules,
Congressional Reform hearings before the Committee on Rules and joint hearings before the
the Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process and Subcommittee on Rules and
Organization of the House of the Committee on Rules, Building on Change: Preparing for
the 105th Congress, 104th Cong., 2nd sess., July 17, 24 and September 5, 12, 1996
(Washington: GPO, 1996), p. 262.
16
Ibid., p. 258
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purposefully written, catchy phrases that make good sound bites." Moving one
minutes to the end of the day, he argued, would "negate their usefulness to news
operations" and remove the incentive to envelop one-minute speeches in sound
bites.17
At the start of the 105th Congress, a letter advancing the same reform proposal
was sent to the Speaker and to the Minority Leader by Representatives Archer and
Hamilton. A bipartisan group of 59 Members signed the letter. A similar letter is
being was
circulated in the 106th Congress.
Civility in the House of Representatives Report
Civility in the House of Representatives (hereafter referred to as Civility)
examined the public's perception of rising incivility in the House and suggested ways
to reduce both this perception and actual breaches in decorum. The report point out
that incivility was more likely to take place during one-minute and special order
speeches than during other periods of House floor proceedings.
Civility recommended that the House either eliminate one-minute speeches or
move these speeches to another time of the day (i.e., to a time other than the start of
the day). Holding one minutes in the morning, the report argued, "can set a hostile
tone for debate."18 The report noted the "advent of theme teams" and the concerns
that some Members have about using one minutes to communicate a party's daily
message.19 External factors such as "the rise of sound-bite politics" and the incentive
of media coverage were also cited as encouraging partisan attacks and breaches of
decorum during House floor debate.20
"Civility" Hearings
The House Rules Committee's Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the
House held hearings on April 17, 1997, and May 1, 1997, to discuss issues raised in
Civility. Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, author of Civility and dean of the Annenberg
School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, testified along with
several other congressional experts. By coincidence, the April 17 hearing was
interrupted by a House vote on the question of striking unparliamentary words spoken
spoken in a one-minute speech. Witnesses and subcommittee members referred to this
this incident throughout the May 1 hearing.
Civility's recommendation that one-minute speeches be either eliminated or
postponed until after legislative business was examined at both hearings. Two
alternative recommendations were advanced in testimony. First, the idea of holding
one-minute speeches only once a week was proposed.21 Second, it was recommended
17
Ibid., pp. 259-260.
18
Jamieson, Civility, p. 54.
19
Ibid.
20
Ibid., p. 52.
21
Testimony of Dr. Stephen Frantzich, chairman of the Department of Political Science, U.S.
(continued...)
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one-minute speeches only once a week was proposed.21 Second, it was recommended
that the Speaker allow one-minute speeches of a "factual nature" in the morning and
those of a "political nature" after the completion of legislative business.22
Both hearings explored reinstating the so-called "Oxford-style"
debates—another
Civility recommendation—as a supplementary reform to changing
House practices
for one minutes.23 In testimony on April 17, 1997, Dr. Jamieson
recommended that
"if we move or eliminate one-minute speeches, we
conventionalize Oxford debates as
an additional forum available. In Oxford debate,
strong partisanship would be the
rule, but in a environment in which the debate
structure increases the likelihood that
one arbitrates evidence and doesn't engage in
personalities."24 Suggestions for
improving future Oxford-style debates, such as
giving these debates a different name
and allowing more Members to participate in
them, were offered by witnesses at both
hearings.
The House Rules Committee is expected to holdheld hearings on the 1999 report and
any recommendations forwarded by the 1999 Hershey retreat organizers.
21
(...continued)on April 29,
1999.
21
Testimony of Dr. Stephen Frantzich, chairman of the Department of Political Science, U.S.
Naval Academy, May 1, 1997.
22
Testimony of Donald Wolfensberger, guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars, April 17, 1997.
23
Three "Oxford-style" debates, two hours of structured debate with four participants from
each party, were held on an experimental basis in the 103rd Congress.
24
Testimony of Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, April 17, 1997.