Legal Definitions - Ramseyer rule

The Ramseyer rule is a rule in the U.S. House of Representatives that requires any committee reporting a bill that amends legislationin force to show in its report what wording the bill would strike from or insert into the current law. This means that if a committee wants to change an existing law, they have to explain exactly what changes they want to make and how it will affect the current law.

For example, if a committee wants to change a law that says "all dogs must be on a leash in public places," they would have to explain in their report what wording they want to strike from the current law and what new wording they want to insert. They might say something like "we propose striking the words 'on a leash' and inserting the words 'under control' so that the law reads 'all dogs must be under control in public places.'" This way, everyone can see exactly what changes are being made and why.

The Ramseyer rule is named after Representative C. William Ramseyer of Iowa, who proposed it. The U.S. Senate has a similar rule called the Cordon rule, named after Senator Guy Cordon of Oregon.