US Constitution Article 1

An annotated version of the text of Article I is available here.

The week ahead

The House of Representatives returns on Tuesday. A Continuing Resolution will be the main business. The Weekly Leader is available here.

The House of Commons will debate firearms control on Monday; There will be a pre-recess backbench debate on Tuesday, as well as Westminster Hall debates and three select committee meetings. In the Lords six new Peers will be introduced on Monday and Tuesday - all coalition peers. It will be a busy schedules as a number of pieces of legislation are finally dealt with, while controversial Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill and Public Bodies Bill  continue their progress.

Rule III House of Representatives

Rule III deals with the duties of members

• to be present within the Hall of the House during its sittings, unless excused or necessarily prevented, and shall vote on each question put, unless having a direct personal or pecuniary interest in the event of such question.
• to vote personally

Delegates (from American Samoa; District of Columbia; Virgin Islands; Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands) and the resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico only have voting rights in the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union. They have the same rights in standing committees as Members of the House.
 
There are 435 members of the House of Representatives - a figure established in Statute (Reapportionment Act of 1929). Therefore 218 votes are needed to ensure a majority. As noted above the voting rights of delegates are limited.