Words taken down
Words taken down is a parliamentary procedure in the United States House of Representatives by which one member requests that another member be sanctioned for remarks that violate decorum. Such remarks can include profanity or personal aspersions against a House member.
The Congressional Research Service summarized the process in the following way:
Martin L. Levine, law professor at the University of Southern California, notes that "Taking down words, like 'taking down names,' is the start and not the end of a process. A separate step is required to rule the words out of order."[1]
A 1999 study by Kathleen Hall Jamieson found that requests to take down words peaked in 1946 and 1995, years before or after control of the House changed hands.[2][3]
Notable Uses
The procedure has been used many times in recent years, with several instances of the Speaker, or their designee, ruling words spoken in debate out of order.[4] From 1971 through 2019 the procedure was used at least 170 times.[4] Some uses have been particularly notable.
1984 Speaker O'Neil
In floor debate on May 15, 1984, Speaker Tip O'Neil was speaking from the floor on a question of privilege brought by then Rep. Newt Gingrich relating to remarks by Speaker O'Neil the prior day.[5] On May 15, Speaker O'Neil said of Rep. Gingrich:
"My personal opinion is this: you deliberately stood in that well before an empty House and challenged these people and you challenged their Americanism and it is the lowest thing that I have ever seen in my 32 years in Congress."[6]
Rep. Trent Lott demanded those words be taken down. The Speaker Pro Tempore presiding at that time, Rep. Joe Moakley, ruled the words of Speaker O'Neil out of order saying "that type of characterization that should not be used in debate."[6][7]
References
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- ↑ Martin L. Levine, Letter to the Editor, What House's 'Taking Down' Rule Means, New York Times (January 29, 1995).
- ↑ Bryan W. Marshall, Brandon C. Prins & David W. Rohde, "Majority Party Leadership, Strategic Choice, and Committee Power: Appropriations in the House, 1995-98" in Congress on Display, Congress at Work (ed. William T. Bianco: University of Michigan Press, 2000), p. 109.
- ↑ Kathleen Hall Jamieson & Erika Falk, Civility in the House of Representatives: the 105th Congress, Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania (March 1999).
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ 1984 Congressional Record, Vol. 130, Page Script error: No such module "String"./Script error: No such module "String". 12198 (May 15, 1984)
- ↑ a b 1984 Congressional Record, Vol. 130, Page Script error: No such module "String"./Script error: No such module "String". 12201 (May 15, 1984)
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