Order Code RS22866
April 29, 2008
Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House:
Member and Committee Requirements
Megan Suzanne Lynch
Analyst on the Congress and Legislative Process
Government & Finance Division
Summary
Earmark disclosure rules have been adopted in both the House and Senate during
the 110th Congress, and those rules establish certain administrative responsibilities that
vary by chamber. Under House rules, a Member requesting that an earmark be included
in legislation is responsible for providing specific written information, such as the
purpose and recipient of the earmark, to the committee of jurisdiction. Further, House
committees are responsible for compiling, presenting, and maintaining such requests in
accord with House rules. In the House, disclosure rules apply to any congressional
earmark, limited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit included in either the text of a bill
or any report accompanying the measure, including a conference report and joint
explanatory statement. The disclosure requirements apply to earmarks in appropriations
legislation, authorizing legislation, and tax measures. Furthermore they apply not only
to measures reported by committees, but also to measures not reported by committees,
“manager’s amendments,” and conference reports. This report will be updated as
needed.
Introduction
Earmark disclosure rules were adopted in both the House and Senate in the 110th
Congress with the stated intention of bringing more transparency to congressionally-
directed spending. The administrative responsibilities associated with these new rules
vary by chamber. This report outlines the major administrative responsibilities of
Members and committees of the House of Representatives associated with the chamber’s
earmark disclosure rules.1
1 This report outlines the administrative responsibilities relating to earmark disclosure contained
in House rules. It does not discuss earmark-related responsibilities required by either party’s
conference or caucus, or those that may be adopted by individual committees. For information
regarding administrative duties associated with Senate earmark disclosure rules, see CRS Report
RS22867, Earmark Disclosure Rules in the Senate: Member and Committee Requirements, by
Megan Suzanne Lynch. For further information on the rules governing congressional earmarks,
(continued...)

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House Earmark Disclosure Rule
House Rule XXI, clause 9, generally requires that certain types of measures be
accompanied by a list of congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits or limited tariff
benefits that are included in the measure or its report, or a statement that the proposition
contains no earmarks. Depending upon the type of measure, the list or statement is to be
included either in the measure’s accompanying report, or printed in the Congressional
Record.
Rule XXI, clause 9, explicitly defines congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, and
limited tariff benefit as follows:
! Congressional earmark- a provision or report language included
primarily at the request of a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner,
or Senator providing, authorizing or recommending a specific amount of
discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other spending
authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or
other expenditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a specific State,
locality or congressional district, other than through a statutory or
administrative formula driven or competitive award process.
! Limited tax benefit-(1) any revenue-losing provision that (A) provides
a federal tax deduction, credit, exclusion, or preference to 10 or fewer
beneficiaries under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and (B) contains
eligibility criteria that are not uniform in application with respect to
potential beneficiaries of such provision; or (2) any federal tax provision
which provides one beneficiary temporary or permanent transition relief
from a change to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
! Limited tariff benefit- a provision modifying the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States in a manner that benefits 10 or fewer
entities.
If either the list of earmarks2 or the letter stating that no earmark exists in the
measure is absent, a point of order may lie against the measure’s floor consideration. The
point of order applies only in the absence of such a list or letter, and does not speak to the
completeness or the accuracy of either document.3
(...continued)
see CRS Report RL34462, Earmark Reform: Comparison of New House and Senate Procedural
Rules, by Sandy Streeter.
2 For the purposes of this report, from this point forward the term “earmark” includes any
congressional earmark, limited tax benefit or limited tariff benefit.
3 U.S. Congress, House, Constitution, Jefferson’s Manual, and Rules of the House of
representatives of the United States, 110th Congress, H. Doc 109-157 (Washington: GPO, 2003),
§ 1068e.

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Legislation Subject to the Rule
House earmark disclosure rules apply to any congressional earmark included in
either the text of the bill or the committee report accompanying the bill, as well as the
conference report and joint explanatory statement. The disclosure requirements apply to
items in authorizing legislation, appropriations legislation, and tax measures.
Furthermore, they apply not only to measures reported by committees, but also to
unreported measures, “manager’s amendments,”4 Senate bills and conference reports.
These earmark disclosure requirements, however, do not apply to all legislation at
all times. For example, when a measure is considered, under the “suspension of the rules”
procedure, House rules are laid aside, and therefore earmark disclosure rules do not apply.
Also not subject to the rule are floor amendments (except a “manager’s amendment”),
amendments between the houses, or amendments considered as adopted under a self-
executing special rule, including a committee amendment in the nature of a substitute
made in order as original text.5
Requirements for Members Submitting Earmark Requests
Under House Rule XXIII, clause 17(a), Members6 requesting a congressional
earmark are required to provide a written statement to the chairman and ranking minority
member of the committee of jurisdiction that includes
1.
the Member’s name;
2.
the name and address of the intended earmark recipient (if there is no specific
recipient, the location of the intended activity should be included);
3.
in the case of a limited tax or tariff benefit, identification of the individual or entities
reasonably anticipated to benefit, to the extent known to the Member;
4.
the purpose of the earmark; and
5.
a certification that the Member or Member’s spouse has no financial interest in such
an earmark.7
4 As defined in the rule, and clarified in a letter from the House Parliamentarian to the Chairman
of the House Committee on Rules (Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 153, October 3,
2007, pp. H11184-H11185.) a “manager’s amendment” is “an amendment offered at the outset
of consideration for amendment by a member of a committee of initial referral under the terms
of a special rule.”
5 Ibid.
6 In this report, “Member” includes Members, Delegates or the Resident Commissioner.
7 The Committee on Standards and Official Conduct is available to provide guidance and
clarification in making such a determination, as stated in the March 27, 2007 memo from the
House Committee on Standards and Official Conduct titled, Financial Interests Under the New
Earmark Rules, available at [http://www.house.gov/ethics/m_financial_interest_earmark.pdf].

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When submitting earmark requests, it is important to note that individual committees
and subcommittees often have their own additional administrative requirements beyond
those required by House rules (e.g., prioritizing requests or submitting request forms
online). They may also establish relevant policy requirements (e.g., requiring matching
funds for earmark requests) or restrictions (e.g., not considering earmark requests for
certain appropriations accounts or disallowing multi-year funding requests). In addition,
committees and subcommittees often have deadlines, especially for earmark requests in
appropriations legislation. For this reason, it is important to check with individual
committees and subcommittees to learn of any supplemental earmark request
requirements or restrictions.8
The committee of jurisdiction is responsible for identifying earmarks in both the
legislative text and any accompanying reports. When it is not clear whether a Member
request constitutes an earmark, the committee of jurisdiction may be able to provide
guidance.
When submitting an earmark request, it may be relevant whether the Member wants
the earmark to be included in the text of the bill or the committee report accompanying
the bill. Committees may make an administrative distinction between these two
categories in terms of the submission of earmark requests, and there may be policy
implications of an earmark’s placement in either the bill text or the committee report. For
example, under Executive Order 13,4579 issued in January 2008, executive agencies are
directed not to commit, obligate, or expend funds that were the result of an earmark
included in non-statutory language, such as a committee report.10
Requirements for Committees
Under House rules, earmark disclosure responsibilities of House committees and
conference committees fall into three major categories: (1) determining if a spending
provision is an earmark; (2) compiling earmark requests for presentation to the full
chamber; and (3) preserving the earmark requests. Individual committees may establish
their own additional requirements.
Committees of jurisdiction must use their discretion to decide what constitutes an
earmark. Definitions in House rules, as well as past earmark designations during the 110th
Congress, may provide guidance in determining if a certain provision constitutes an
earmark.
House Rule XXIII, clause 17(b) states that in the case of any reported bill or
conference report, a list of included earmarks and their sponsors, or a statement declaring
8 Often these requirements are communicated through a “Dear Colleague” letter or through the
committee’s website.
9 “Protecting American Taxpayers From Governmental Spending on Wasteful Earmarks,”
Executive Order 13,457, January 29, 2008, available at [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/
releases/2008/01/20080129-5.html].
10 For further information, see CRS Report RL34373, Earmarks Executive Order: Legal Issues,
by Thomas J. Nicola and T.J. Halstead.

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the absence of earmarks, must be included in the corresponding committee report or joint
explanatory statement. In the case of a measure not reported by a committee, or a
“manager’s amendment,” the committee of initial referral must cause a list of earmarks
and their sponsors, or letter stating the absence of earmarks, to be printed in the
Congressional Record before floor consideration is in order.
A conference report to accompany a regular appropriations bill, under H.Res. 491,
also must identify congressional earmarks in the conference report or joint explanatory
statement that were not specified in the legislation or report as it initially passed either
chamber.11
Each House committee and conference committee is responsible for “maintaining”
all written requests for earmarks received, even those not ultimately included in the
measure or the measure’s report. Furthermore, those requests which were included in any
measure reported by the committee must not only be “maintained,” but must also be
“open for public inspection.” Rule XXIII does specify how the information shall be
“maintained” and “open for public inspection.”
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11 During the 110th Congress, it has been the practice to include such earmarks in the list required
by Rule XXI, clause 9, and identify them with an asterisk. Note that the Senate defines items
related to earmark disclosure somewhat differently, for more information, see CRS Report 22867,
Earmark Disclosure in the Senate: Member and Committee Requirements, by Megan Suzanne
Lynch.

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