Congressional Voting Accountability Act

Congressional Voting Accountability Act

This resolution amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to eliminate proxy voting and remote committee activity, to require a recorded vote for any question put before the House, and to require affirmative or negative votes for record votes in the House.

The resolution also requires the Chair to entertain a point of order that a quorum is not present during general debate.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 968 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 968

 To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit remote 
   voting and voting by voice and to require a recorded vote on any 
         question put before the House, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 8, 2022

Mrs. Greene of Georgia (for herself, Mr. Good of Virginia, Mrs. Miller 
 of Illinois, and Mr. Biggs) submitted the following resolution; which 
                 was referred to the Committee on Rules

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit remote 
   voting and voting by voice and to require a recorded vote on any 
         question put before the House, and for other purposes.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This resolution may be cited as the ``Congressional Voting 
Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO VOTING AND GENERAL DEBATE IN THE 
              HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

    (a) Prohibition Against Proxy Voting.--Section 3(s) of House 
Resolution 8 (relating to remote voting by proxy and remote committee 
activity) is repealed.
    (b) Recorded Vote Requirement for Any Question Before the House.--
Rule XXIX of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``5. Notwithstanding any other rule of the Rules of the House, a 
recorded vote conducted pursuant to the voting procedures under rule XX 
shall be considered as ordered on any question put before the House. 
The Speaker may not entertain a request for the suspension of this rule 
by unanimous consent or otherwise.''.
    (c) Questions Put by Speaker of the House.--
            (1) In general.--Clause 6 of rule I of the Rules of the 
        House of Representatives is amended to read as follows:
    ``6. The Speaker shall put a question in the form of a vote by the 
yeas and nays pursuant to the voting procedures described under rule 
XX.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Clause 1(a) of rule XX of the 
        Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by striking 
        ``by voice''.
    (d) Prohibiting Members From Voting ``Present'' on Questions on 
Which Record Vote Is Taken.--Rule XX of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is amended by adding at the end the following new 
clause:
``Requiring voting in affirmative or negative
    ``12. On any question on which a record vote is taken in the House, 
including the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, 
or in any committee of the House, a Member may vote only in the 
affirmative or the negative and may not vote `present' except during a 
quorum call.''.
    (e) Requirements With Respect to Voting in the House.--
            (1) Vote by the yeas and nays required.--Clause 10 of rule 
        XX of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended to 
        read as follows:
    ``10. A recorded vote shall be considered as ordered whenever the 
Speaker puts the question on passage of a bill or joint resolution, on 
adoption of an amendment thereto, making general appropriations, on 
final adoption of a concurrent resolution on the budget, or on adoption 
of a conference report or Senate amendment. The Speaker may not 
entertain a request for the suspension of this clause by unanimous 
consent or otherwise.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Clause 1(b) of rule XX of the 
        Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by striking 
        ``If a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner requests a 
        recorded vote, and that request is supported by at least one-
        fifth of a quorum, the vote'' and inserting ``A recorded vote 
        under this rule''.
    (f) Quorum and Voting Requirements in the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union.--
            (1) Requirements with respect to quorum.--Clause 6(b)(1) of 
        rule XVIII is amended by striking ``may refuse'' and inserting 
        ``may not refuse''.
            (2) Recorded vote required.--Clause 6(e) of rule XVIII is 
        amended to read as follows:
    ``(e) In the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the 
Union, a recorded vote shall be considered as ordered whenever the 
Chair puts the question on passage of a bill or joint resolution, on 
adoption of an amendment thereto, making general appropriations, on 
final adoption of a concurrent resolution on the budget, or on adoption 
of a conference report or Senate amendment. A recorded vote taken in 
the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union under this 
paragraph shall be considered a vote by the yeas and nays.''.
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