For the first time ever, a representative of the CNMI presided over the committee of the whole as speaker pro tempore during debate and voting.
Congressman Gregorio C. Sablan took up the speaker’s gavel at approximately 2:15 in the afternoon and controlled the flow of legislative action for over an hour and a half, while H.R. 3246, the Advanced Vehicle Technology Act, was under consideration.
“I am very grateful to Speaker Nancy Pelosi for giving me this opportunity and for allowing the people of the Northern Marianas through their elected representative to stand here today and conduct legislative business,” Sablan said after leaving the dais and returning to sit on the floor of the House with the other 440 members.
Sablan said he was nervous, but excited, when contacted by the speaker’s office to take on this responsibility.
“As with all my work here in Washington, I want to do well for the people of the Northern Mariana Islands. But this is the first time I’ve had to do well in front of all my House colleagues and in front of a national television audience.”
All proceedings of the House of Representatives are carried on the C-Span cable network.
The Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union is just that: a committee composed of all members of the House of Representatives.
The business of perfecting bills by offering, debating, and voting on amendments to bills is often conducted in the Committee of the Whole under less stringent parliamentary rules than apply to the House of Representatives itself.
A measure involving taxes or spending is required to be first debated in the Committee of the Whole.
Under Rule XVIII of the House, whenever the House resolves into the Committee of the Whole, the speaker leaves the chair after appointing a member, a delegate, or the resident commissioner from Puerto Rico as the speaker pro tempore.
Video of Sablan presiding over the Committee of the Whole can be seen at www.sablan.house.gov.
