98-839 GOV
Updated February 25, 1999
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Messages, Petitions, Communications, and
Memorials to Congress
Paul S. Rundquist
Specialist in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
The Constitution and the rules of the House and Senate identify various means that
citizens, subordinate levels of government, and other branches of the federal government
may use to communicate formally with either or both houses of Congress. The two houses
of Congress also use written messages to communicate with each other.
Messages
The Constitution authorizes the President to recommend to Congress "such measures
as he shall judge necessary and expedient." Presidents communicate formally with
Congress by written message. For many years, the President's State of the Union message
was sent to Congress in writing only; in 1913, Woodrow Wilson resumed giving this
message both in person (not done since Thomas Jefferson) and in writing.
Presidential messages are printed in full in both the Congressional Record and the
Journal of each House, although accompanying supplemental materials are not. The
Speaker of the House and the presiding officer of the Senate refer such messages to the
appropriate committees. (For example, the House refers the State of the Union message
to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union; a veto message is not
referred to a committee if the House or Senate votes immediately on overriding it.)

The two houses also formally communicate with each other by written message.
Under Rule IX, the Senate may receive a message from the President or the House
anytime, unless the Senate is voting, determining the presence of a quorum, having the
Journal read, or acting on a question of order or a motion to adjourn. In the House,
messages from the President and from the Senate (except those regarding Senate action
on certain bills) are referred to the appropriate committees (Rule XII, cl. 1). If the Senate
has passed a bill that the House (under its rules) will not consider in the Committee of the
Whole, the House may act immediately on a message about that bill.
Petitions
The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights guarantees that "Congress shall make no
law respecting ... the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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Government for a redress of grievances." Individuals, groups, or organizations can
petition Congress requesting it to act or not to act on a specific subject.
Petitions are normally addressed to individual Representatives or Senators. Members
may present petitions from citizens or groups outside their constituencies. Under House
Rule XII, cl. 3, Members forward petitions they receive to the clerk of the House for
referral to committees having jurisdiction over the petition's subject. The text of the
petition, the name of the first signer, the number of other signers and their general place
of residence are printed in the Journal and published in the Congressional Record. In the
Senate, petitions are presented from the floor or delivered to the secretary of the Senate
and are referred to the appropriate committee; Senate Rule VII, par. 4 provides a rarely
used procedure in which the Senate may vote without debate on the question of receiving
a particular petition or memorial.
Communications
Narrowly defined, a communication is a written submission from a federal
government department, agency, or other entity. Most executive communications are sent
to Congress to comply with statutes (see Reports to Be Made to Congress, House
Document 105-23 for a full list of such reports), to comply with a specific request from
either or both chambers, to suggest legislation to appropriate congressional committees
or comment on measures already introduced. In both chambers, executive
communications are numbered sequentially throughout each Congress for identification
and are referred to the appropriate committee for possible further action.
Memorials
The term "memorial" derives from the Latin, meaning literally "to remember" or to
"keep in mind." A memorial is a request, usually from a state legislature, that the Congress
take some action, or refrain from taking certain action. Memorials may be addressed to
the House or Senate as a whole, to the Speaker or presiding officer of the Senate, or to
individual Senators or Representatives.
In the 18
th and 19th centuries when state legislatures elected Senators, many of them
sent memorials to their Senators "instructing" them how to vote on certain pending
controversial measures. Some Senators considered instructions as binding, but many did
not. Since the popular election of Senators in 1913, state legislatures have ceased issuing
instructions. Today, they use memorials or less formal means of communication to urge
congressional action rather than demanding it. In recent times, several state legislatures
have memorialized Congress, urging it to call (under Article V of the Constitution) a
convention to consider various possible constitutional amendments.
House and Senate sections of the Congressional Record note each chamber's receipt
and disposition of messages, petitions and memorials, and other formal communications.
Committees rarely take any formal action on any of these items referred to them.
Nevertheless, they may prompt the committees to hold oversight hearings or they may be
cited in committee reports on related legislation. House precedents record instances in
which a memorial prompted the House to begin an impeachment inquiry and to investigate
the constitutional qualifications of a Member-elect.

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