Please explain "special order speeches." What is their purpose and why do Members bother giving them to an empty House? Helena, MT - 5/10/00

The House chamber during special order speeches. Click on picture for larger image

Special order speeches allow Members of the House of Representatives to speak on any topic they wish for periods of time reserved in advance, anywhere from 5 up to 60 minutes in length. They occur routinely at the end of a day's legislative work. It is true that most Members have left the House floor by the time special orders begin. However, the chief target for these speeches is the C-SPAN audience, most notably constituents, and not other Members.

The origin of the term "special order speech" dates back to the 1930's when it was first used to mean a floor speech given outside of the regular order by the unanimous consent of all those present. Speaker Sam Rayburn (D-TX) began recognizing Members for special order speeches as a regular practice in the 1940's.

Special order speeches are not a procedural right, but a privilege granted by daily unanimous consent. Since House rules do not permit speaking on subjects other than pending legislative business, "non-legislative debate" can occur only when no one objects. Whenever the House steps outside of its "regular" order of procedure, it needs a "special" order to proceed, hence the shorthand reference to "special orders" when describing these speeches.

Members give special order speeches for one of several possible reasons: (1) they provide individual Members an opportunity to discuss issues of their own choosing; (2) they provide the minority party an opportunity to draw attention to their legislative agenda as an alternative to the agenda of the majority; (3) they provide Members who had little or no time to discuss a matter during legislative debate more time to more fully express their views; (4) they provide a group of Members (known as "theme teams") an opportunity to coordinate a discussion of a policy or political matter in a sustained way.

Most special order speeches pertain to national or international issues, specific laws or proposed bills, eulogies/tributes to constituents and public officials, local district or personal concerns, and sometimes, internal House procedures or partisan tensions.

Special order speeches are still being held under the terms of a unanimous consent agreement announced in February, 1994 by then Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO) and then Speaker Tom Foley (D-WA), and renewed for each Congress since. The agreement limits special orders to no more than 4 hours, or until midnight, whichever comes first. Tuesdays are an exception: on that day, speeches may go beyond 4 hours, but must still end by midnight. If necessary, special order speeches may always be interrupted to take up legislative business.

The agreement also divides the special order speech time equally, two hours under the control of the majority leader and two under the control of the minority leader. The two leaders, in turn, delegate the time to Members on their side of the aisle, who must reserve it in advance. Prior to this agreement, special order speeches were granted on a first come-first serve basis, with no limitation on either party or on the total time spent by the House in holding the speeches. On several occasions, the House stayed in all night to accommodate Members giving special orders.

The current unanimous consent agreement provides some predictability to the end of the House day, while at the same time centralizing control in the hands of the two party leaders over how special order time is used, and by whom. Under the current procedure, it is unlikely that Members can build political reputations for themselves or advance political issues independent of their leadership. Special orders were effectively used in this manner in the 1980's by Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and other Republican Members who called themselves the "Conservative Opportunity Society." COS Members were able to use the special order speech period to promote an alternative legislative agenda and gain visibility for themselves within their party.

Special orders have their fair share of critics within the House: the cost of keeping the chamber "open" and keeping essential staff on duty in the evenings has been estimated by some Members to be between $4,000 - 6,000 per hour. Additional costs arise when the speeches are printed in the Congressional Record as part of the House proceedings. A one hour speech was estimated in 1993 to cost $2,205 to print. Numerous resolutions have been introduced over the years to either eliminate or further streamline the special order speech period. None of the reform resolutions have received legislative consideration. Members of both parties use the special order speech period and perceive a benefit from them, so the two party leaders are able to work out unanimous consent agreements each Congress to continue holding them.