H.Res. 687: Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide greater transparency on earmark requests.

111th Congress · introduced 2009-07-28 · Congress · Latest: Referred to House Standards of Official Conduct

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2009-07-28 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Alexander, Rodney [R-LA-5] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to House Standards of Official Conduct Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide greater transparency on earmark requests.

Plain summary

Amends Rule XXIII (Code of Official Conduct) of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner (Member), within 24 hours after requesting a congressional earmark or a limited tax or tariff benefit, to post on his or her website for the remainder of a Congress financial certification letters that contain: (1) the name and address of the intended recipient; (2) whether the recipient is a public, private, nonprofit, or for profit entity; (3) the requested congressional earmark amount; (4) an explanation of the request, including the purpose, and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds; and (5) a statement that neither the requesting member nor his or her spouse has any financial interest related to such request. Requires the Member also to display on the homepage of such website a hypertext link that contains the words "Appropriations Requests," "Limited Tax Benefits," or "Limited Tariff Benefits." Requires the Member to maintain the link for at least 90 calendar days after the last request is made during a Congress. Amends Rule XI (Procedures of Committees and Unfinished Business) to require any committee that accepts a Member's request for a congressional earmark or a limited tax or tariff benefit to maintain a public website with an earmark disclosure webpage that contains, in a downloadable and searchable format, the list of earmarks included in the Committee Report of the bill. Requires a committee to: (1) post the list on its earmark disclosure webpage; and (2) maintain such information on it for the remainder of a Congress. Amends Rule XXI (Restrictions on Certain Bills) to make it out of order to consider any legislation that carries a congressional earmark or limited tax or tariff benefit requested by a Member who does not comply with clause 18 of Rule XXIII.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

A Yea supports adopting this resolution.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide greater transparency on earmark requests.

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Alexander, Rodney [R-LA-5] · 0 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (5)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Resolution: A formal statement or decision by a legislative body. Simple resolutions often only express an opinion or set rules for one chamber; they do not become law.
Roll-call vote: A vote where each member's position is recorded by name, so the public can see how every member voted. "Yea" means yes, "Nay" means no, "Present" means the member was there but did not take a side.
Rulemaking: The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-111hres687.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/111/hres>

Record fed-us-cong111-hres687 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111