42:1 The manner in which a member obtains the floor is described in 3:30–35, with an initial treatment of the principal rules governing the assignment of the floor under ordinary conditions in most business meetings. More complete rules affecting the assignment of the floor are contained in this section.
42:2 Before a member in an assembly can make a motion or speak in debate, he must claim the floor by rising1 and addressing the chair as described in 3:31, and must be recognized by the chair. The chair must recognize any member who seeks the floor while entitled to it. The chair normally recognizes a member (thereby assigning the floor to him) by announcing, as applicable, the member’s name or title, or the place or unit that he represents. If necessary, the member—either on his own initiative or at the request of the chair—should state his name, with any appropriate additional identification, as soon as the presiding officer turns toward him after he has risen and addressed the chair. Variations in the granting of recognition are as follows:
• If only one person is seeking the floor in a small meeting where all present can clearly see one another, the chair may recognize the member by merely nodding to him.
• If a speech is prearranged, or if several members are attempting to claim the floor at once in a large meeting, a wording frequently used by the chair in granting recognition is, “The chair recognizes Mr. Smith.”
42:3 Whenever a member rises and addresses the chair at a time when the floor can be granted only for limited purposes and the chair is not certain that the member understands this fact—for example, when an undebatable question is immediately pending as explained in 42:12—the chair, before recognizing the member, asks, “For what purpose does the member [or “the gentleman,” or “the lady,” or, as in Congress, “the gentlewoman”] rise?” If members remain seated around a conference table and do not rise, the chair may ask, “For what purpose does the member address the chair?”
42:4 Except by unanimous consent (4:58–63), a motion can be made only by one who has been recognized by the chair as having the floor. If a motion is called out by anyone who has not obtained the floor, the chair must not treat it as having been properly moved if another member, by rising promptly and claiming the floor, shows that unanimous consent has not been given.
42:5 When assigned the floor, a member may use it for any proper purpose, or a combination of purposes; for example, although a member may have begun by debating a pending motion, he may conclude by moving any secondary motion, including the Previous Question (16), that is in order at the time.
42:6 If two or more rise at about the same time to claim the floor, the general rule is that, all other things being equal, the member who rose and addressed the chair first after the floor was yielded is entitled to be recognized. A member who rises before the floor has been yielded is not entitled to the floor if any other member rises afterward and addresses the chair.2
42:7 Under a variety of particular conditions, however, when more than one member claims the floor at about the same time, the best interests of the assembly require the floor to be assigned to a claimant who was not the first to rise and address the chair. Such a claimant to the floor in these cases is said to be entitled to “preference in being recognized” or “preference in recognition.” A member cannot rise to claim preference in recognition after the chair has actually recognized another member. However, there are a number of purposes for which a member who has been assigned the floor may be interrupted (see 42:18–19). A member who sought the floor for such a purpose before the floor has been assigned is likewise entitled to preference in recognition. Thus, if there may be no other opportunity, a member is entitled to preference in recognition to give notice of intent to introduce a motion requiring such notice (10:47–50), or to make a motion to Reconsider (37) or to Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes (37:46–52), even when another motion is pending or a series of motions connected with taking up a single item of business is being disposed of (cf. 42:13(2–3)).
42:8 When the chair has just reported a vote, a member is entitled to preference in recognition to make an appropriate motion that the vote be taken again by another method (30). Other rules governing preference in recognition may be grouped as relating to cases when a debatable question is immediately pending, when an undebatable question is immediately pending, and when no question is pending.
42:9 Preference in Recognition When a Debatable Question Is Immediately Pending. While a motion is open to debate:
1) If the member who made the motion that is immediately pending claims the floor and has not already spoken on the question, he is entitled to be recognized in preference to other members. Under some particular cases or variations of this rule, the members entitled to preference in recognition are:
a) in the case of a motion to implement a recommendation in a committee’s report, the reporting member (who presented the committee’s report to the assembly);
b) in the case of a question that has been taken from the table (34), the member who moved to take it from the table; and
c) in the case of a motion to Reconsider (37), the member who made the motion to Reconsider, not necessarily the one who may have called it up (see 37:10(c), 37:15–16).
2) No member who has already had the floor in debate on the immediately pending question is entitled to it again on the same day for debate on the same question so long as any member who has not spoken on that question claims the floor.
3) In cases where the chair knows that persons seeking the floor have opposite opinions on the question—and the member to be recognized is not determined by (1) or (2) above—the chair lets the floor alternate, as far as possible, between those favoring and those opposing the measure. In large assemblies, various devices are sometimes used to assist the chair in following this rule, such as having members seeking recognition hold up cards of different colors, go to different microphones “for” and “against,” or the like.
42:10 In the case of an Appeal (or a Point of Order that the chair has submitted to a vote) that is debatable, the chair is entitled to speak once in preference to any member seeking the floor and a second time at the close of the debate (see 23:19, 24:3(5)).
42:11 When a member has moved to reconsider the vote on a motion for the announced purpose of amending the motion, if the vote is reconsidered he must be recognized in preference to others in order to move his amendment. This rule also applies to reconsiderations of amendable motions that are not debatable (see list on page t47), as noted below.
42:12 Preference in Recognition When an Undebatable Question Is Immediately Pending. When the immediately pending question is undebatable (pages t46–t47), the member who moved it has no preference to the floor. When an undebatable motion that can be amended is reconsidered for that announced purpose, however, the maker of the motion to Reconsider (37) is entitled to preference in recognition, as explained in the preceding paragraph.
42:13 Preference in Recognition When No Question Is Pending. Cases where a member is entitled to preference in recognition when no question is pending occur as follows:
1) When a member has been assigned to offer a motion which a special meeting was called to consider, or an important prearranged main motion at any meeting, that member is entitled to prior recognition and no other members are permitted to intervene in an effort to offer another motion in competition.
2) When a desired object requires a series of motions, each of which is moved while no question is pending, and when the assembly has disposed of one motion in such a series, the next motion in the series has the right of way; and, for the purpose of making that motion, the chair recognizes the member who is presenting the series, even if another member has risen and addressed the chair first. For example:
a) When a question has been laid on the table (17) for a legitimate purpose—to enable the assembly to take up a more urgent matter—the member who moved to lay on the table is entitled to preference in recognition to introduce the urgent business.
b) When the rules have been suspended (25) to enable a certain motion to be made, the member who moved to suspend the rules is entitled to the floor to make the motion involved.
3) Similarly, when a motion has been voted down at the urging of a member who stated in debate that in such event he would offer a different motion on the same subject (see 10:30(5)), that member is entitled to preference in recognition so that he may introduce his alternative motion.
4) When no question is pending and no series of motions has been started, and a member has risen seeking the floor to make a main motion, another member is entitled to preference in recognition if he addresses the chair and states that he rises for one of the following purposes:
a) to make a motion to Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes (37:46–52);
b) to move to reconsider a vote (37);
c) to call up a motion to Reconsider (in its regular or special form (37)) that has been made earlier;
d) to give previous notice (10:44–50);
e) to move to take a question from the table (34) when it is in order to do so; or
f) to make a motion for which previous notice has been given.
If members come into competition in rising for these purposes, they have preference in the order in which the six actions are listed above. Time limits on making the motion to Reconsider—and shorter limits on its special form, to Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes—account for first preference of these two motions in such cases.
42:14 Assignment of the Floor by Vote; Appeals. If the chair is in doubt as to who is entitled to the floor, he can allow the assembly to decide the question by a vote, in which case the member receiving the largest vote is entitled to the floor.
42:15 If at any time the chair makes a mistake and assigns the floor to the wrong person when more than one member rose and addressed the chair promptly, a Point of Order can be raised. Except in a mass meeting, the decision of the chair in assigning the floor can be appealed from by any two members—one making the appeal and the other seconding it (24).3
42:16 Variations in Large Assemblies. In large conventions or similar bodies, some of the rules applicable to the assignment of the floor may require adaptation, which, pending the adoption of appropriate convention standing rules or special rules of order, the chair may direct. For example, in a large hall where microphones are in use and members must walk some distance to reach one, members may be asked to line up at numbered microphones. They may be recognized in numerical order, or someone may list them for the chair in the order in which assistant sergeants-at-arms turned on lights affixed to the microphones. It may be provided that a member who has a priority matter, such as a point of order, may ask the assistant at the microphone to flash the light to so indicate. Should a member, called in whatever order is established, move an amendment or other debatable motion, others awaiting a turn should stand aside unless their debate is germane to the new motion. If the Previous Question or a motion to limit debate is moved, members who have been waiting in line cannot validly protest; as in all other cases, the chair cannot choose the occasions when such motions will be in order. He may advise the assembly that, if it wishes to continue debate and hear from those waiting in line, a minority greater than one third has this within its power.
42:17 If ushers are equipped with hand microphones and a microphone is carried to each member who is recognized, the standard rules in 42:6 can be followed.
42:18 When a member has been assigned the floor and has begun to speak—unless he begins to discuss a subject when no motion is pending or speaks longer in debate than the rules of the assembly allow—he cannot be interrupted by another member or by the chair except for one of the following purposes, and then only when the urgency of the situation justifies it:
a) a Call for the Orders of the Day (18) when they are not being conformed to,
b) the raising of a question of privilege (19),
c) a Point of Order or the calling of the member who has the floor to order (23, 61)—or the chair’s calling this member’s attention to the fact that he is failing to observe the rules of speaking (61:10–11),
d) a call for a separate vote on one or more of a set of independent resolutions on different subjects, or a divisible set of amendments, that have been offered by a single motion (10:25, 12:14, 27:10–11),
e) a request or inquiry (32, 33) that requires an immediate response;
or, in certain special circumstances, these additional purposes:
f) an Appeal (24),
g) an Objection to the Consideration of a Question (26), or
h) a Division of the Assembly (29).
42:19 After a member has been assigned the floor but before he has begun to speak, it is in order to take any of the steps listed above, and also, if there may be no other opportunity, to rise for the purpose of:
a) giving notice of intent to introduce a motion requiring such notice (10:44–50); or
b) making a motion to Reconsider (37) or to Reconsider and Enter on the Minutes (37:46–52).
42:20 If an interruption occurs for any of the reasons listed above, the member who had the floor does not lose it, although he takes his seat while the interrupting matter is being attended to. As soon as the interruption has been disposed of, the chair directs him to rise and proceed by saying, for example, “Mr. Lewis has the floor.”
42:21 If a member presenting a committee report or other document to the assembly hands it to the secretary or a reading clerk to be read, the member does not thereby yield the floor, but has it again when the reading is finished.
42:22 When a member has risen to claim the floor or has been assigned the floor, it is out of order for another to call out a motion to adjourn, or a motion to lay the pending question on the table. If someone does so, or if calls of “Question!” are made, it is the duty of the chair to obtain order and protect the rights of the member who is entitled to the floor.
43:1 Debate, rightly understood, is an essential element in the making of rational decisions of consequence by intelligent people. In a deliberative assembly, this term applies to discussion on the merits of a pending question—that is, whether the proposal under consideration should, or should not, be agreed to. That the right of debate is inherent in such an assembly is implied by the word deliberative.
43:2 Debatability is a characteristic of all main motions and of certain other motions, depending on the parliamentary function they serve, according to principles summarized at the end of this section; and from such principles are derived the specific rules stated under Standard Characteristic 5 in 11–37.
43:3 While the amount of debate on a motion in actual practice will depend on such factors as its importance, how strongly it is contested, etc., every member of the assembly has the right to speak to every debatable motion before it is finally acted upon; and subject only to general limitations on debate established by parliamentary law or the rules of the body as explained below, this right cannot be interfered with except by a two-thirds vote.
43:4 Until a matter has been brought before the assembly in the form of a motion proposing a specific action, it cannot be debated. As explained in 3 and 4, the motion must be made by a member who has obtained the floor while no question is pending (or while the motion is in order, if it is not a main motion), after which it must be seconded by another member (unless it is made by direction of a board or committee), and must be stated by the chair. The chair may conclude his statement of the question on the debatable motion by asking, “Are you ready for the question?” or, less formally, “Is there any debate?” Alternatively, he may simply pause and turn toward the maker of the motion to see if he desires the floor first in debate. After the maker of the motion has had the opportunity to speak first if he wishes, other members can rise and address the chair to claim the floor for the purpose of debate, as explained in 3:30ff. and 42.
43:5 While debate is in progress, amendments or other secondary (subsidiary, privileged, or incidental) motions can be introduced and disposed of—and can be debated in the process, if they are debatable—as explained in 10:31–35. A member may both speak in debate and conclude by offering a secondary motion, which is a particular application of the principle that a member having been recognized for any legitimate purpose has the floor for all legitimate purposes.
43:6 When debate appears to have concluded, the chair may again ask, “Are you ready for the question?” (or “Is there any further debate?”) or if, after a reasonable pause, no one rises to claim the floor, the chair may assume that no member wishes to speak and, standing, may proceed to put the question.
43:7 It should be noted that, under legitimate parliamentary procedure, there is no such thing as “gaveling through” a measure. The right of members to debate or introduce secondary motions cannot be cut off by the chair’s attempting to put a question to vote so quickly that no member can get the floor—either when the chair first states the question or when he believes debate is ended. Debate is not closed by the presiding officer’s rising to put the question. If a vote has been taken or begun quickly and it is found that a member rose and addressed the chair with reasonable promptness after the chair asked, “Are you ready for the question?” or, by a pause or otherwise, indicated that the floor was open to assignment, then—even if the chair has announced the result of such a vote—the vote must be disregarded, the member is entitled to the floor, and debate begins or resumes. But if the chair gives ample opportunity for members to claim the floor before he puts the question, and no one rises, the right to debate cannot be claimed after the voting has commenced. If, because a member sought the floor in timely fashion, debate is resumed after voting has begun, the question must be put fully again—that is, both the affirmative and the negative votes must be called for—regardless of how far the earlier vote had proceeded. When a vote is taken a second time for purposes of verification—as when a Division (29) is demanded—debate cannot be resumed except by unanimous consent (4:58–63).
43:8 Maximum Time for Each Speech. In a nonlegislative body or organization that has no special rule relating to the length of speeches (2), a member, having obtained the floor while a debatable motion is immediately pending, can speak no longer than ten minutes unless he obtains the consent of the assembly. Such permission can be given by unanimous consent (4:58–63), or by means of a motion to Extend Limits of Debate (15), which requires a two-thirds vote without debate.
43:9 When a member’s time is exhausted, the chair rises and—if the member does not immediately conclude his remarks—calls his attention to the fact by an appropriate signal, or by interrupting him if necessary. The chair may appoint timekeepers to provide assistance in fulfilling this responsibility. If it appears that a minute more will afford sufficient time for the member to conclude more gracefully, the chair can ask unanimous consent to extend the member’s time for a short period, or any member can do so.
43:10 Rights in regard to debate are not transferable. Unless the organization has a special rule on the subject, a member cannot yield any unexpired portion of his time to another member, or reserve any portion of his time for a later time—that is, if a member yields the floor before speaking his full ten minutes, he is presumed to have waived his right to the remaining time.4 If a speaker yields to another member for a question (Request for Information, 33:6–10), the time consumed by the question is charged to the speaker.
43:11 A committee chairman or reporting member is not considered to be debating when presenting or reading the committee’s report, but he is bound to obey the assembly’s rules relating to debate in any speech made by him in support of the motion offered on behalf of the committee.
43:12 Number of Speeches on the Same Question per Member per Day. Unless the assembly has a special rule providing otherwise, no member can speak more than twice to the same question on the same day—except that in the case of an Appeal (24), only the presiding officer can speak twice (the second time at the close of the debate), all other members being limited to one speech. Merely asking a question or making a brief suggestion is not counted as speaking in debate; nor is the making of a secondary motion counted as speaking in debate,5 so long as in making the motion the member makes no comment on the then-pending question. It will be seen from this rule that if debate on a pending motion is continued at the next meeting, and if that meeting is held on the same day, members who have already made two speeches on a question are not allowed to speak on it again without the assembly’s permission. But if the next meeting is held on another day, all members have their right to debate entirely renewed with reference to that question.
43:13 Under this rule, each debatable motion is a separate question with respect to members’ rights to debate it. Thus, if a series of debatable questions is pending and a member has, for example, spoken twice that day while the main motion is immediately pending, he has exhausted his right to debate the main motion; but, even on the same day, he can still speak twice on a motion to postpone the main question indefinitely, and twice on each amendment that may be moved, and so on. As noted under the rules for assigning the floor (42), however, a member cannot make a second speech on the same question the same day until every member who desires to speak on it has had an opportunity to do so once. If debate is closed before the member has an opportunity to make a second speech, none may be made.
43:14 The general rules limiting the length and number of speeches in debate that are stated above can be modified to serve the assembly’s needs as follows:
43:15 Adopting a Special Rule. The rule allowing each member two speeches of ten minutes’ length per day on each debatable question can be made either more restrictive or more liberal for all meetings of a society by adopting a special rule of order by a two-thirds vote after notice, or by a vote of a majority of the entire membership (2:14ff.; see also 10:44–51). An example of a more restrictive rule might be one setting a limit of not more than one speech of five minutes’ length on the same question on the same day for each member.
43:16 Changing the Limits for a Session. An assembly at any session can change the limits of debate, for that session only, by means of a main motion adopted by a two-thirds vote without notice. In a convention—where the limits of debate generally need to be stricter than in a local society—such a modification is usually adopted in the form of a standing rule of the convention (59), requiring a two-thirds vote in such a case.
43:17 Changing the Limits for the Pending Question(s) Only. While a debatable question is immediately pending, the allowed length or number of speeches can be reduced or increased, for that question only, by means of the subsidiary motion to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate (15), adopted by a two-thirds vote. This motion can also be used to close debate at a specified future time. If two thirds of those voting wish to close debate immediately, they can do so by adopting the motion for the Previous Question (16). If a series of adhering debatable questions (10:35) is pending, either of these motions can also be applied to the entire series or any consecutive part of the series beginning with the immediately pending question. (For forms, see 15:19, 16:20, 59:82.) If it is desired to prevent any discussion of a subject—even by the introducer of the motion, who has the right to the floor first—the only way this can be done is to raise an Objection to the Consideration of the Question (26) before debate begins or any subsidiary motion (other than a motion to Lay on the Table) is stated. If the objection is sustained by a two-thirds vote, the question cannot be considered in any way at that time or during that session.
43:18 On the other hand, if, in considering a particular question, it is desired to retain the usual limit on the length of speeches but remove restrictions on the total number of times members can speak, the assembly by a majority vote can resolve itself into a committee of the whole or into quasi committee of the whole, or it can consider the question informally (see 52:1). Speeches made under these procedures do not count against a member’s right to debate the same question if it is further considered by the assembly on the same day under the regular rules. If the question under consideration is composed of a number of sections or paragraphs—as in the case of bylaws, for example—the total number of speeches allowed each member can be greatly increased, but not made unlimited, by considering the document seriatim (28), in which case each member can speak twice on each paragraph, section, or unit that is taken up as a separate part.
43:19 The following practices and customs observed by speakers and other members in an assembly assist the carrying on of debate in a smooth and orderly manner. Paragraphs 3:9–13 under the head Pattern of Formality should be read in connection with this subject.
43:20 Confining Remarks to the Merits of the Pending Question. In debate a member’s remarks must be germane to the question before the assembly—that is, his statements must have bearing on whether the immediately pending motion should be adopted (see also Principles Governing the Debatability of Motions, 43:35–40).
43:21 Refraining from Attacking a Member’s Motives. When a question is pending, a member can condemn the nature or likely consequences of the proposed measure in strong terms, but he must avoid personalities, and under no circumstances can he attack or question the motives of another member. The measure, not the member, is the subject of debate. If a member disagrees with a statement by another in regard to an event that both witnessed, he cannot state in debate that the other’s statement “is false.” But he might say, “I believe there is strong evidence that the member is mistaken.” The moment the chair hears such words as “fraud,” “liar,” or “lie” used about a member in debate, he must act immediately and decisively to correct the matter and prevent its repetition (see 61).
43:22 Addressing All Remarks Through the Chair. Members of an assembly cannot address one another directly, but must address all remarks through the chair. If, while a member is speaking in debate, another member wishes to address a question to him—which the person speaking can permit or not as he chooses, but which is taken out of his time if he does—the member desiring to ask the question rises and addresses the chair, proceeding as explained under Request for Information (33:6–10).
43:23 Avoiding the Use of Members’ Names. As much as possible, the use of names of members should be avoided in debate. It is better to describe a member in some other way, as by saying, “the member who spoke last,” or, “the delegate from Mason County.” The officers of the society should always be referred to by their official titles. There is no need, however, to refer to oneself in debate in the third person as by the use of such expressions as “this member.” A member’s debate is expected and intended to be partial, and the first person is quite acceptable.
43:24 Refraining from Speaking Adversely on a Prior Action Not Pending. In debate, a member cannot reflect adversely on any prior act of the society that is not then pending, unless a motion to reconsider, rescind, or amend it is pending, or unless he intends to conclude his remarks by making or giving notice of one of these motions.
43:25 Refraining from Speaking Against One’s Own Motion. In debate, the maker of a motion, while he can vote against it, is not allowed to speak against his own motion. He need not speak at all, but if he does he is obliged to take a favorable position. If he changes his mind while the motion he made is pending, he can, in effect, advise the assembly of this by asking permission to withdraw the motion (33:11–18).
43:26 Reading from Reports, Quotations, etc., Only Without Objection or With Permission. If any member objects, a member has no right to read from—or to have the secretary read from—any paper or book as part of his speech, without permission of the assembly. Members are usually permitted to read short, pertinent, printed extracts in debate, however, so long as they do not abuse the privilege (see also 33:20–21).
43:27 Being Seated During an Interruption by the Chair. If at any time the presiding officer rises to make a ruling, give information, or otherwise speak within his privilege, any member who is speaking should be seated (or should step back slightly if he is standing at a microphone some distance from a seat) until the presiding officer has finished. At that time the member can resume his speech, unless he is denied the right as a disciplinary measure. (Questions of discipline arising from disorderly debate by members are treated in 61.)
43:28 Refraining from Disturbing the Assembly. During debate, during remarks by the presiding officer to the assembly, and during voting, no member should be permitted to disturb the assembly by whispering, walking across the floor, or in any other way. The key words here are disturb the assembly. This rule does not mean, therefore, that members can never whisper, or walk from one place to another in the hall during the deliberations of the assembly. At large meetings it would be impossible to enforce such a rule. However, the presiding officer should watch that such activity does not disturb the meeting or hamper the transaction of business.
43:29 If the presiding officer is a member of the society, he has—as an individual—the same rights in debate as any other member; but the impartiality required of the chair in an assembly precludes his exercising these rights while he is presiding. Normally, especially in a large body, he should have nothing to say on the merits of pending questions. On certain occasions—which should be extremely rare—the presiding officer may believe that a crucial factor relating to such a question has been overlooked and that his obligation as a member to call attention to the point outweighs his duty to preside at that time. To participate in debate, he must relinquish the chair; and in such a case he turns the chair over:
a) to the highest-ranking vice-president present who has not spoken on the question and does not decline on the grounds of wishing to speak on it; or
b) if no such vice-president is in the room, to some other member qualified as in (a), whom the chair designates (and who is assumed to receive the assembly’s approval by unanimous consent unless member(s) then nominate other person(s), in which case the presiding officer’s choice is also treated as a nominee and the matter is decided by vote).
The presiding officer who relinquished the chair then may not return to it until the pending main question has been disposed of, since he has shown himself to be a partisan as far as that particular matter is concerned. Indeed, unless a presiding officer is extremely sparing in leaving the chair to take part in debate, he may destroy members’ confidence in the impartiality of his approach to the task of presiding.
43:30 In debate on an appeal (24) or a point of order that the chair has submitted to the judgment of the assembly (23:18–21), the foregoing rule does not apply, and the presiding officer does not leave the chair, since his participation in the debate relates to the function of presiding.
43:31 Allowable Explanations and Requests When No Motion Is Pending or When an Undebatable Motion Is Pending. As already stated, debate in a deliberative assembly is permitted only when it is germane to a debatable motion that has been stated by the chair as the immediately pending question. However, as explained in 4, the making of a motion of any kind—whether debatable or undebatable—may be prefaced, when necessary, by a few words of explanation, which must not become a speech; or a member can first request information, or briefly indicate the substance of a desired proposal and ask for the chair’s assistance in wording an appropriate motion. Similarly, business may sometimes be expedited by allowing a few words of factual explanation while an undebatable motion is pending.
43:32 The distinction between debate and asking questions or making brief suggestions should be kept in mind in this connection. Especially in large assemblies, the chair must be careful not to allow this type of consultation to develop into an extended colloquy between members or to take on the semblance of debate, and should generally remain standing while the consultation takes place, to show that the floor has not been assigned.
43:33 Informal Consultation to Assist the Framing of a Motion. Occasionally, brief informal consultation or discussion of a subject may assist a member in framing a proper motion. If the chair permits such discussion, he must not allow it to continue more than a few moments or longer than is reasonably necessary to arrive at a motion embodying the member’s ideas.
43:34 In general, for a member to speak when no question is pending, without promptly leading to a motion, implies an unusual circumstance and requires permission of the assembly. But occasionally, in very small bodies, a member who has obtained the floor at such a time may state that, if there is no objection, he would like to give some explanations dealing with a specified subject and to conclude by offering a motion on that subject. If no one objects, the member can then proceed; and the chair, knowing the subject, can hold him to it as he would in debate on a motion (see also 4:7–8).
43:35 Rules as to each motion’s debatability or undebatability are given under Standard Characteristic 5 in 10–37 and in the Table of Rules Relating to Motions on pages t6–t33. The following is a brief summary of these rules in relation to the principles on which they are based.
43:36 Every main motion is debatable, from the nature of the deliberative assembly itself.
43:37 With the exception of the two subsidiary motions that have to do with debate, the degree to which each of the subsidiary motions can be debated depends on the extent to which its adoption would restrict the assembly in dealing with the main question.
1) Since the motion to Postpone Indefinitely (11) will kill the main motion if it is adopted, it is fully debatable and leaves the main question open to debate.
2) A motion to Amend (12) is debatable when it is applied to the main question or to any other debatable motion, since it would alter the question it proposes to amend; but the debate is limited to the merits of the amendment, and other pending questions can be brought into the discussion only as necessary in this connection. A motion to amend an undebatable motion is undebatable, because to allow debate on it would be contrary to the purposes of the other motion’s undebatability.
3) In the case of the motions to Commit (13) and to Postpone to a Certain Time (14), debate is quite limited, because the main question will be open to further debate when the committee reports or when the time arrives to which the question was postponed. Hence, debate is confined in the first instance to the wisdom of referring or to the choice of personnel of the committee and to the nature of its instructions, and in the latter instance to the wisdom of postponement and the choice of a time to which the question will be postponed.
4) Motions to Limit or Extend Limits of Debate (15) and for the Previous Question (16) are undebatable inasmuch as their very object is to alter the debatability of pending question(s), and their purpose would be defeated if they were debatable; they are also in the nature of specialized motions to suspend the rules, and any such motion made while business is pending is undebatable.
5) The motion to Lay on the Table (17) is undebatable because its legitimate purpose would be defeated if it were debatable, and because its adoption in no way interferes with the right of the majority to take the question from the table (34) and resume debate.
43:38 The privileged motions are all undebatable because, if they were debatable, their high privilege would allow them to interfere with business. The right of debate is thus incompatible with high privilege. With reference to the two lowest-ranking privileged motions, it is, of course, the “calling” for the orders of the day (18) or the “raising” of a question of privilege (19) that is undebatable. When the order of the day or the question of privilege involved in such a case becomes the pending main motion, it is debatable.
43:39 Except as noted in this paragraph, the incidental motions are undebatable, because they have high privilege to interrupt any motions or situations to which they are incidental. In the case of an Appeal that relates to indecorum, the rules of debate, or the priority of business, it is assumed that debate would be a hindrance to business, as it would be if the appeal were made when an undebatable question is immediately pending or involved in the appeal. At all other times, an appeal is fully debatable so long as the debate is germane to the subject matter of the appeal. The incidental motion to create a proviso, like the corresponding subsidiary motion to create a proviso by amending a motion’s enacting words (see 57:15), is debatable when the motion to which it applies is debatable. A Request to Be Excused from a Duty, such as a resignation, may require some discussion for its proper decision, and for this reason it is debatable.
43:40 Rules as to the debatability of motions that bring a question again before the assembly may be summarized as follows:
1) The motion to Take from the Table (34) is undebatable because debate would serve no useful purpose and would delay business, and because, if it is voted down, it can be renewed each time any business has been transacted.
2) The motion to Rescind or to Amend Something Previously Adopted (35) is fully debatable, and it opens to debate the entire motion that it proposes to rescind or to amend. The same is true of the motion to Discharge a Committee (36).
3) The motion to Reconsider (37) is debatable only to the extent that the motion proposed to be reconsidered is debatable, and it opens the merits of that question to debate. A motion to reconsider an undebatable motion is thus undebatable.
1. In small boards and in committees, members generally need not rise to obtain the floor. See 49:21(1).
2. For modification of these rules in large assemblies, see 42:16.
3. In a mass meeting, the chair’s decision in assigning the floor is not subject to appeal. In a very large body other than a mass meeting, if the best interests of the assembly require that the chair be given greater power in assigning the floor, a special rule that there shall be no appeal from his decision in granting recognition can be adopted (see 2:14ff.; see also, in regard to standing rules in a convention, 59:27ff.).
4. This rule reflects the traditional parliamentary principles. The House of Representatives has a different rule which permits control of all time by a single member or the leaders of the opposing sides of the question. The House rule also prevents members to whom time has been yielded for debate from making motions. See form (f) in 15:19 and, especially, the form discussed in 59:82–83.
5. Thus a member who has exhausted the number of speeches permitted him on a main motion may still seek recognition to move its referral or amendment, for example. In such a case the chair grants limited recognition by saying, “The member has exhausted his right to debate. For what purpose does he rise?”