H.Res. 23 — Proxy Voting for New Parents Resolution

This section authorizes a Member of the House who has given birth or whose spouse has given birth to designate another Member as a proxy to cast the Member’s vote or record the Member’s presence in the House and the Committee of the Whole. The authorization begins on the date of birth and terminates 12 weeks thereafter, or may begin prior to birth if the Member’s health care provider advises that the pregnancy presents a serious medical condition or that the Member is unable to travel safely, in which case the authority terminates 12 weeks after the initial designation. The designating Member must submit a signed letter to the Clerk containing an affirmative statement of the birth or medical condition, the name and state of the designated proxy, and an original signature; the Clerk must verify the letter, notify the Speaker and majority and minority leaders, maintain a publicly available list of active designations, and reject incomplete submissions. A proxy must obtain exact voting instructions from the Member, announce those instructions when seeking recognition, cast the vote or record the presence using a ballot card marked “by proxy,” and follow the instructions exactly. A Member’s vote or presence recorded by proxy is not counted for purposes of establishing a quorum.

This section authorizes a Member who has designated another Member as a proxy for floor voting under section 2 to designate a member of each committee on which the Member sits as a proxy to cast the Member’s committee votes during the same period. The designation requires submission of a signed and dated letter to the chair and ranking minority member prior to the first committee meeting in which the proxy is used, may be altered or revoked at any time by subsequent letter, is automatically revoked if the Member casts their own vote in committee, requires the proxy to obtain exact voting instructions from the Member, and does not count toward establishing a quorum.

This section applies sections 2 and 3 to Delegates and the Resident Commissioner by including them in the definition of Member and including the District of Columbia and territories in the definition of State, except that Delegates and the Resident Commissioner may not cast a vote or record their presence in the House and may be designated as a proxy only by another Delegate or the Resident Commissioner.