Floor Schedule and Procedure:

Quorum Call. Today, there will be a recorded Quorum Call vote at 12:00 p.m. following the Pledge of Allegiance.

Election of the Speaker of the House. The Chairman of the Democratic Caucus will nominate Nancy Pelosi to be Speaker of the House for the 110th Congress. This historic election of the first woman Speaker in the history of our country is by manual roll call vote, with each Member called individually in alphabetical order by the Clerk. After the election, the Speaker will address the House and then administer the Oath of Office to Members and Delegates.

Honest Leadership, Open Government, Civility, and Fiscal Responsibility House Rules Package for the 110th Congress (H. Res. 6): In the afternoon following administrative organizing issues, the House will then debate and vote on the adoption of a series of ethics reforms for the 110th Congress subject to a Rule (H. Res. 5). Note the House will consider on Friday the civility reforms (Title III), fiscal responsibility reforms (Title IV), and rules providing consideration of H.R. 1, H.R. 2, H.R. 3, H.R. 4 and other technical changes to House rules (Title V). Debate time will be managed by Rules Committee Chair Louise Slaughter or her designee. The rules package will be considered in the following order on opening day:

- 1 hour of debate on the Rule (H. Res. 5) to allow for the Honest Leadership, Open Government, Civility, and Fiscal Responsibility House Rules Package for the 110th Congress (H. Res. 6) to be considered by the House.

- Vote on the previous question to H. Res. 5 (15 minutes). Democrats are urged to vote YES.

- Vote to commit H. Res. 5 (15 minutes). Democrats are urged to vote NO.

- Vote on final passage of H. Res. 5 (15 minutes). Democrats are urged to vote YES.

- 30 minutes of debate to implement the existing rules from the 109th Congress (Title I; H. Res. 6).

- Vote on adopting Title I (15 minutes). Democrats are urged to vote YES.

- 1 hour of debate on all the ethics reform changes listed below (Title II, H. Res. 6).

- Vote on adopting Title II (15 minutes). Democrats are urged to vote YES.

Bill Summary and Key Issues:

Honest Leadership, Open Government, Civility, and Fiscal Responsibility House Rules Package for the 110th Congress (H. Res. 6): To ensure this Congress upholds the highest ethical standards, the opening day ethics reform package will clean up Washington and sever unethical ties between lawmakers and lobbyists. We will start by banning gifts and travel from lobbyists, and ending the abuses connected to privately-funded congressional travel (including corporate jets). On opening day, the House will take one vote on the following ethics reform changes contained in Title II of the rules package:

- Bans Gifts from Lobbyists: Bans gifts, including meals and tickets, from lobbyists and the organizations that employ them, and requires that tickets to sporting and other events given to Members and staff by non-lobbyists are valued at market price.

- Bans Lobbyist Travel: Bans lobbyists and the organizations that employ them from financing travel for Members or staff, except for one-day travel to visit a site, attend a forum, participate in a panel, or give a speech. The ethics committee would be required to develop guidelines for minimal lobbyist involvement for one-day/one-night travel. Travel provided by a private university would not be affected by anything in the rules package.

- Requires Certification and Pre-Approval for Travel Paid for By Outside Groups: Requires the sponsors of all other permitted travel to certify that they have abided by all restrictions on lobbyist involvement. Requires Members and staff to obtain pre-approval from the ethics committee for travel to ensure trips are connected to official duties, the amount spent is limited to reasonable expenses, and the destination is related to the purpose of the trip. Requires the full disclosure of all travel within 15 days after the trip. Travel provisions take effect beginning on March 1st.

- Prohibits use of Company Planes: Prohibits the use of official, personal or campaign funds to pay for the use of non-commercial, corporate jets. This provision does not apply to charter plane services licensed by the FAA or to airplanes owned by Members.

- Ends the K Street Project: Clarifies that no Member can take or withhold an official act, or influence, or offer or threaten to influence, the official act of another with the intent to influence on the basis of partisan political affiliation an employment decision or employment practice of any private entity.

- Mandates Ethics Training: Require mandatory ethics training annually for all House employees.

Friday's Outlook

On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. to complete consideration of the House Rules package for the 110th Congress.  The last recorded vote is expected no later than 2:00 p.m. on Friday.