RIGHT SPEAK: Did You Know The Senate has a Secret Book of Rules?

The handbook reads something like an employee manual, explaining how new senators and staff members can get ID cards and how many parking passes each senator will be issued. But it also contains detailed rules on how each senator can spend their official, multi-million-dollar, taxpayer-funded budget on things like meals and travel.

Yet, because it has not been released, it's been impossible for the public to know whether a senator has violated the rules — for example by charging taxpayers for an improper charter flight.

The handbook is referenced in rules published by the Senate Ethics Committee, Congressional Research Service reports and history books. But the Rules Committee, which produces the handbook, does not release it. The Library of Congress does not even have a copy.

Open the sections Below:

Table of Contents (PDF)

Part I: Administration (PDF)

Part I: Appendices (PDF)

Part II: Equipment and Services (PDF)

Part IV: Financial Management (PDF)

Part IV: Appendices (PDF)

Asked for a copy by USA TODAY, the committee provided a book called the "Senate Manual," which includes rules for legislating, a few historical documents and some Senate trivia like "Electoral Votes, President and Vice President, 1789-2013." When pressed, Rules Committee spokesman Phillip Rumsey said the handbook is not public.

"In the past, the Senate handbook has not been made publicly available because it contains sensitive security information regarding Senate operations," he said. "The handbook is currently undergoing significant revisions and updates, and when the new version is completed, the Senate Rules committee will consider making the handbook available to the public."