	Introduction

Special order speeches (commonly called "special orders") usually take place at the end of the day after the House of Representatives has completed all legislative business. During the special order period , individual Representatives can deliver speeches on topics of their choice for up to 60 minutes. Special order speeches give Members a chance to speak outside the time restrictions that govern legislative debate in the House and the Committee of the Whole. These speeches also provide one of the few opportunities for non-legislative debate in the House, where debate is almost always confined to pending legislative business. Governing Authorities

The rules of the House do not provide for special order speeches. Instead, special orders have evolved as a unanimous consent practice of the House. During the special order period, Members must abide by the rules of the House, the chamber's precedents, and the "Speaker's announced policies," in that order. The term Speaker's announced policies refers to the Speaker's policies on certain aspects of House procedure (e.g., decorum in debate, conduct of electronic votes, recognition for special orders). In practice, the Speaker's current policies on special orders (announced on January 6, 2015) govern recognition for special order speeches and the reservation and television broadcast of these speeches. To summarize, under the Speaker's current announced policies, there are generally three stages to each day's special order period:
1. five-minute special orders by individual Members ; 2. special orders longer than five minutes (normally 60 minutes in length) by the party's leadership or designee ; and 3. special orders longer than five minutes (length varies from 6 minutes to 60 minutes) by individual Member s .

	Reservation of Special Orders

Members reserve five-minute and longer special orders through their party leadership: Democratic Members reserve time through the Office of the Majority Leader, and Republican Members reserve time through the Republican cloakroom or the party leadership desk on the House floor. Inserted Special Orders

Instead of delivering a special order speech on the House floor, Members may insert their speech in either the House pages of the Congressional Record or the section known as the "Extensions of Remarks."
Special order speeches (commonly called "special orders") usually take place at the end of the day after the House has completed all legislative business. During the special order period, individual Representatives deliver speeches on topics of their choice for up to 60 minutes. Special orders provide one of the few opportunities for non-legislative debate in the House. They also give Members a chance to speak outside the time restrictions that govern legislative debate in the House and the Committee of the Whole.
The rules of the House do not provide for special order speeches. Instead, special orders have evolved as a unanimous consent practice of the House. Recognition for special orders is the prerogative of the Speaker. During the special order period, Members must abide by the rules of the House, the chamber's precedents, and the "Speaker's announced policies," in that order. The term Speaker's announced policies refers to the Speaker's policies on certain aspects of House procedure.
In practice, the Speaker's current policies on special orders (announced on January 6, 2009) govern recognition for special order speeches as well as the reservation and television broadcast of these speeches. Under these announced policies, there are generally three stages to each day's special order period:
1. five-minute special orders by individual Members; 2. special orders longer than five minutes (normally 60 minutes in length) by the party's leadership or a designee; and 3. special orders longer than five minutes (length varies from 6 to 60 minutes) by individual Members.
Members usually reserve special orders in advance through their party's leadership. Instead of delivering a special order speech on the House floor, Members may choose to insert their speech in either the House pages of the Congressional Record or the section known as the "Extensions of Remarks."
Reform proposals were advanced in recent Congresses to address both concerns about breaches in decorum during special order speeches and the costs of conducting these speeches.
This report will be updated if rules and procedures change.