Messages, Petitions, Communications, and Memorials to Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Dec. 18, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF12854 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
R. Eric Petersen |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The Constitution and the rules of the House of
Representatives and Senate identify various means that
citizens, other levels of government, and coordinate
branches of the national government may use to
communicate formally with either or both houses of
Congress. The House and Senate use written messages to
communicate with each other.
The Constitution authorizes the President to recommend to
Congress “such Measures as he shall judge necessary and
expedient.” Presidents communicate formally with
Congress by written message. For many years, the
President’s State of the Union message was sent to
Congress in writing only; in 1913, Woodrow Wilson
resumed Thomas Jefferson’s practice of giving this
message both in person and in writing.
Presidential messages are printed in full in both the
Congressional Record and the Journal of each House,
although any accompanying supplemental materials are not.
The Speaker of the House and the presiding officer of the
Senate may refer such messages to the appropriate
committees. For example, the House refers the State of the
Union message to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union; a veto message is not referred to a
committee if the House or Senate votes immediately on
overriding it.
The two houses also formally communicate with each other
by written message. The Senate may receive a message
from the President or the House anytime, unless the Senate
is voting, determining the presence of a quorum, having the
Journal read, or acting on a question of order or a motion to
adjourn. In the House, messages from the President and
from the Senate, except those regarding Senate action on
certain bills, are referred to the appropriate committees. If
the Senate has passed a bill that the House, under its rules,
will not consider in the Committee of the Whole, the House
may act immediately on a message about that bill.
