It is becoming apparent that rules that govern the House and Senate are going to be extremely important in the next two years. The parliamentary practice of the House of Representatives comes mainly from four sources. The first is the Constitution of the United States, the second is Jefferson’s Manual, the third is from the rules adopted by the House itself from the beginning of its existence and fourth from the decisions of the Speaker of the House and from decisions of the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole.

The Rules of the House go back to 1797 when Thomas Jefferson, then Vice President of the United States, and President of the Senate prepared a notable work over a four year period known as Jefferson’s Manual. The House followed this procedure although it was not until 1837 that the House finally adopted a rule which is still in existence permitting the provisions of the Manual to govern the House in all cases to which they are applicable.

The House is a stickler for rules. To understand the House it is rather simple. If you have a majority of one, you control the House and have the ability to appoint the Chairman and Subcommittee Chairman of every committee except the Ethics Committee. Normally a bill is brought to the floor under a rule which emanates from the Rules Committee. This is one of the most powerful committees of the House and has a larger ratio of the majority to the minority than any other committee. Other bills can come to the House floor without going through the Rules Committee, but they are not normally important pieces of legislation. The Rules Committee can adopt a rule establishing the length of time the bill will be debated, decide what amendments if any will be allowed, and allow certain non-conforming amendments. Think of the House as a group of highly charged individuals who in order to get anything done must conform to rules that many don’t like, especially the rules that limit debate.

The Senate on the other hand has 100 individuals, each of whom thinks they ought to be President. There is not the restrictive structure that exists in the House and a single Senator has the ability to hold up a bill and sometimes to cause enough parliamentary problems that the bill can be killed. Debate is normally unlimited. The key to the Senate is the ability to cut off debate, i.e., cloture. For many years the number was 66 Senators, but unfortunately it was reduced to 60 some years ago. The Senate is a club where 2/3 of the members don’t have to worry about their re-election during any two year congressional session. Because of this the Senate has a lot more political flexibility than the House and many times takes a longer view of the issues than the House does.

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Lou Frey represented Central Florida in the U. S. Congress from 1969 to 1979. In his last election, he received nearly 80% of the vote. He was elected one of five Republican leaders in the House of Representatives during the 93rd and 94th Congress. He served on...