Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to permit Members to vote by proxy and remotely attend committee proceedings in certain cases, and for other purposes.

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 543 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 543

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to permit Members to 
  vote by proxy and remotely attend committee proceedings in certain 
                     cases, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 22, 2023

 Ms. Ross (for herself, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Raskin, Mrs. Watson Coleman, 
and Ms. Jacobs) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                       to the Committee on Rules

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to permit Members to 
  vote by proxy and remotely attend committee proceedings in certain 
                     cases, and for other purposes.

    Resolved,

SECTION 1. PERMITTING PROXY VOTING AND REMOTE ATTENDANCE AT COMMITTEE 
              PROCEEDINGS FOR MEMBERS IN CERTAIN CASES.

    (a) Proxy Voting.--Clause 2 of rule III of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (a), by striking ``A Member may not'' and 
        inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (c), a Member may 
        not'';
            (2) in paragraph (b), by striking ``No other person may'' 
        and inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (c), no other 
        person may''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(c) In the case of a Member with a serious medical condition, 
including any pregnancy-related condition, or a Member who is the 
primary caretaker of a spouse or dependent with a serious medical 
condition (including any pregnancy-related condition), such Member may 
designate another Member as a proxy who may cast the vote of such 
Member or record the presence of such Member in the House if such 
Member submits to the Clerk a signed letter, which the Clerk shall 
preserve the confidentiality of and which may be in electronic form--
            ``(1) certifying that such Member has received a 
        recommendation from a doctor that the Member or the spouse or 
        dependent of the Member, as the case may be, should not travel 
        or attend House proceedings in person as a result of a serious 
        medical condition; and
            ``(2) specifying by name the other Member who is designated 
        as a proxy for such Member.''.
    (b) Remote Attendance at Committee Proceedings.--Rule XI of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by adding at the end 
the following new clause:
``Remote attendance at committee proceedings in certain cases
    ``7. Notwithstanding any other provision of this rule, in the case 
of a Member with a serious medical condition, including any pregnancy-
related condition, or a Member who is the primary caretaker of a spouse 
or dependent with a serious medical condition (including any pregnancy-
related condition) who has submitted to the Clerk a signed letter, 
which the Clerk shall preserve the confidentiality of and which may be 
in electronic form, certifying that such Member has received a 
recommendation from a doctor that the Member or the spouse or dependent 
of the Member, as the case may be, should not travel or attend House or 
committee proceedings in person as a result of a serious medical 
condition, such Member may participate remotely during in-person 
committee proceedings, including by casting a vote or recording their 
presence remotely, and--
            ``(a) such remote participation shall not be considered an 
        absence for purposes of clause 5(c) of rule X or clause 2(d) of 
        rule XI; and
            ``(b) such Member participating remotely pursuant to this 
        clause shall be counted for the purpose of establishing a 
        quorum under the rules of the House and the committee.''.
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