Rules of The House of Representatives of The United States
RULE XXII: HOUSE AND SENATE RELATIONS
Senate amendments
1. A motion to disagree to Senate
amendments to a House proposition
and to request or agree to a conference
with the Senate, or a motion to insist
on House amendments to a Senate
proposition and to request or agree to
a conference with the Senate, shall be
privileged in the discretion of the
Speaker if offered by direction of the
primary committee and of all reporting
committees that had initial referral of
the proposition.
2. A motion to dispose of House bills
with Senate amendments not requiring
consideration in the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union
shall be privileged.
3. Except as permitted by clause 1,
before the stage of disagreement, a
Senate amendment to a House bill or
resolution shall be subject to the point
of order that it must first be considered
in the Committee of the Whole
House on the state of the Union if,
originating in the House, it would be
subject to such a point under clause 3
of rule XVIII.
4. When the stage of disagreement
has been reached on a bill or resolution
with House or Senate amendments, a
motion to dispose of any amendment
shall be privileged.
5. (a) Managers on the part of the
House may not agree to a Senate
amendment described in paragraph (b)
unless specific authority to agree to
the amendment first is given by the
House by a separate vote with respect
thereto. If specific authority is not
granted, the Senate amendment shall
be reported in disagreement by the
conference committee back to the two
Houses for disposition by separate motion.
(b) The managers on the part of the
House may not agree to a Senate
amendment described in paragraph (a)
that-
(1) would violate clause 2(a)(1) or
(c) of rule XXI if originating in the
House; or
(2) proposes an appropriation on a
bill other than a general appropriation
bill.
6. A Senate amendment carrying a
tax or tariff measure in violation of
clause 5(a) of rule XXI may not be
agreed to.
Conference reports; amendments reported in disagreement
7. (a) The presentation of a conference
report shall be in order at any
time except during a reading of the
Journal or the conduct of a record
vote, a vote by division, or a quorum
call.
(b)(1) Subject to subparagraph (2) the
time allotted for debate on a motion to
instruct managers on the part of the
House shall be equally divided between
the majority and minority parties.
(2) If the proponent of a motion to instruct
managers on the part of the
House and the Member, Delegate, or
Resident Commissioner of the other
party identified under subparagraph (1)
both support the motion, one-third of
the time for debate thereon shall be allotted
to a Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner who opposes the
motion on demand of that Member,
Delegate, or Resident Commissioner.
(c)(1) A motion to instruct managers
on the part of the House, or a motion
to discharge all managers on the part
of the House and to appoint new conferees,
shall be privileged after a conference
committee has been appointed
for 20 calendar days and 10 legislative
days without making a report, but only
on the day after the calendar day on
which the Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner offering the motion
announces to the House his intention
to do so and the form of the motion.
(2) The Speaker may designate a time
in the legislative schedule on that legislative
day for consideration of a motion
described in subparagraph (1).
(3) During the last six days of a session
of Congress, a motion under subparagraph
(1) shall be privileged after a
conference committee has been appointed
for 36 hours without making a
report and the motion meets the notice
requirement in subparagraph (1).
(d) Instructions to conferees in a motion
to instruct or in a motion to recommit
to conference may not include
argument.
(e) Each conference report to the
House shall be printed as a report of
the House. Each such report shall be
accompanied by a joint explanatory
statement prepared jointly by the managers
on the part of the House and the
managers on the part of the Senate.
The joint explanatory statement shall
be sufficiently detailed and explicit to
inform the House of the effects of the
report on the matters committed to
conference.
8. (a)(1) Except as specified in subparagraph
(2), it shall not be in order
to consider a conference report until-
(A) the third calendar day (excluding
Saturdays, Sundays, or legal
holidays except when the House is in
session on such a day) on which the
conference report and the accompanying
joint explanatory statement
have been available to Members, Delegates,
and the Resident Commissioner
in the Congressional Record;
and
(B) copies of the conference report
and the accompanying joint explanatory
statement have been available
to Members, Delegates, and the Resident
Commissioner for at least two
hours.
(2) Subparagraph (1)(A) does not
apply during the last six days of a session
of Congress.
(b)(1) Except as specified in subparagraph
(2), it shall not be in order to
consider a motion to dispose of a Senate
amendment reported in disagreement
by a conference committee
until-
(A) the third calendar day (excluding
Saturdays, Sundays, or legal
holidays except when the House is in
session on such a day) on which the
report in disagreement and any accompanying
statement have been
available to Members, Delegates, and
the Resident Commissioner in the
Congressional Record; and
(B) copies of the report in disagreement
and any accompanying statement,
together with the text of the
Senate amendment, have been available
to Members, Delegates, and the
Resident Commissioner for at least
two hours.
(2) Subparagraph (1)(A) does not
apply during the last six days of a session
of Congress.
(3) During consideration of a Senate
amendment reported in disagreement
by a conference committee on a general
appropriation bill, a motion to insist
on disagreement to the Senate
amendment shall be preferential to any
other motion to dispose of that amendment
if the original motion offered by
the floor manager proposes to change
existing law and the motion to insist is
offered before debate on the original
motion by the chairman of the committee
having jurisdiction of the subject
matter of the amendment or a designee.
Such a preferential motion shall
be separately debatable for one hour
equally divided between its proponent
and the proponent of the original motion.
The previous question shall be
considered as ordered on the preferential
motion to its adoption without
intervening motion.
(c) A conference report or a Senate
amendment reported in disagreement
by a conference committee that has
been available as provided in paragraph
(a) or (b) shall be considered as read
when called up.
(d)(1) Subject to subparagraph (2), the
time allotted for debate on a conference
report or on a motion to dispose
of a Senate amendment reported
in disagreement by a conference committee
shall be equally divided between
the majority and minority parties. (2) If the floor manager for the majority
and the floor manager for the
minority both support the conference
report or motion, one-third of the time
for debate thereon shall be allotted to
a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner
who opposes the conference
report or motion on demand of that
Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner.
(e) Under clause 6(a)(2) of rule XIII, a
resolution proposing only to waive a
requirement of this clause concerning
the availability of reports to Members,
Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner
may be considered by the House
on the same day it is reported by the
Committee on Rules.
9. Whenever a disagreement to an
amendment has been committed to a
conference committee, the managers
on the part of the House may propose a
substitute that is a germane modification
of the matter in disagreement.
The introduction of any language presenting
specific additional matter not
committed to the conference committee
by either House does not constitute
a germane modification of the
matter in disagreement. Moreover, a
conference report may not include
matter not committed to the conference
committee by either House and
may not include a modification of specific
matter committed to the conference
committee by either or both
Houses if that modification is beyond
the scope of that specific matter as
committed to the conference committee.
10. (a)(1) A Member, Delegate, or
Resident Commissioner may raise a
point of order against nongermane
matter, as specified in subparagraph
(2), before the commencement of debate
on-
(A) a conference report;
(B) a motion that the House recede
from its disagreement to a Senate
amendment reported in disagreement
by a conference committee and concur
therein, with or without amendment;
or
(C) a motion that the House recede
from its disagreement to a Senate
amendment on which the stage of
disagreement has been reached and
concur therein, with or without
amendment.
(2) A point of order against nongermane
matter is one asserting that a
proposition described in subparagraph
(1) contains specified matter that
would violate clause 7 of rule XVI if it
were offered in the House as an amendment
to the underlying measure in the
form it was passed by the House.
(b) If a point of order under paragraph
(a) is sustained, a motion that
the House reject the nongermane matter
identified by the point of order
shall be privileged. Such a motion is
debatable for 40 minutes, one-half in
favor of the motion and one-half in opposition
thereto.
(c) After disposition of a point of
order under paragraph (a) or a motion
to reject under paragraph (b), any further
points of order under paragraph
(a) not covered by a previous point of
order, and any consequent motions to
reject under paragraph (b), shall be
likewise disposed of.
(d)(1) If a motion to reject under
paragraph (b) is adopted, then after disposition
of all points of order under
paragraph (a) and any consequent motions
to reject under paragraph (b), the
conference report or motion, as the
case may be, shall be considered as rejected
and the matter remaining in disagreement
shall be disposed of under
subparagraph (2) or (3), as the case may
be.
(2) After the House has adopted one
or more motions to reject nongermane
matter contained in a conference report
under the preceding provisions of
this clause-
(A) if the conference report accompanied
a House measure amended by
the Senate, the pending question
shall be whether the House shall recede
and concur in the Senate
amendment with an amendment consisting
of so much of the conference
report as was not rejected; and
(B) if the conference report accompanied
a Senate measure amended by
the House, the pending question shall
be whether the House shall insist further
on the House amendment.
(3) After the House has adopted one
or more motions to reject nongermane
matter contained in a motion that the
House recede and concur in a Senate
amendment, with or without amendment,
the following motions shall be
privileged and shall have precedence in
the order stated:
(A) A motion that the House recede
and concur in the Senate amendment
with an amendment in writing then
available on the floor.
(B) A motion that the House insist
on its disagreement to the Senate
amendment and request a further
conference with the Senate. (C) A motion that the House insist
on its disagreement to the Senate
amendment.
(e) If, on a division of the question on
a motion described in paragraph
(a)(1)(B) or (C), the House agrees to recede,
then a Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner may raise a point
of order against nongermane matter, as
specified in paragraph (a)(2), before the
commencement of debate on concurring
in the Senate amendment, with or
without amendment. A point of order
under this paragraph shall be disposed
of according to the preceding provisions
of this clause in the same manner
as a point of order under paragraph (a).
11. It shall not be in order to consider
a conference report to accompany a
bill or joint resolution that proposes to
amend the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 unless—
(a) the joint explanatory statement of the managers includes a tax complexity analysis prepared by the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation in accordance with section 4022
(b) of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998; or (b) the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means causes such a tax complexity analysis to be printed in the Congressional Record before consideration of the conference report.
12. (a)(1) Subject to subparagraph (2),
a meeting of each conference committee
shall be open to the public.
(b) A point of order that a conference committee failed to comply with paragraph (a) may be raised immediately after the conference report is read or considered as read. If such a point of order is sustained, the conference report shall be considered as rejected, the House shall be considered to have insisted on its amendments or on disagreement to the Senate amendments, as the case may be, and to have requested a further conference with the Senate, and the Speaker may appoint new conferees without intervening motion.
(2) In open session of the House, a motion that managers on the part of the House be permitted to close to the public a meeting or meetings of their conference committee shall be privileged, shall be decided without debate, and shall be decided by the yeas and nays.
(3) In conducting conferences with the Senate, managers on the part of the House should endeavor to ensure- (A) that meetings for the resolution of differences between the two Houses occur only under circumstances in which every manager on the part of the House has notice of the meeting and a reasonable opportunity to attend; (B) that all provisions on which the two Houses disagree are considered as open to discussion at any meeting of a conference committee; and (C) that papers reflecting a conference agreement are held inviolate to change without renewal of the opportunity of all managers on the part of the House to reconsider their decisions to sign or not to sign the agreement.
(4) Managers on the part of the House shall be provided a unitary time and place with access to at least one complete copy of the final conference agreement for the purpose of recording their approval (or not) of the final conference agreement by placing their signatures (or not) on the sheets prepared to accompany the conference report and joint explanatory statement of the managers.
(b) A point of order that a conference committee failed to comply with paragraph (a) may be raised immediately after the conference report is read or considered as read. If such a point of order is sustained, the conference report shall be considered as rejected, the House shall be considered to have insisted on its amendments or on disagreement to the Senate amendments, as the case may be, and to have requested a further conference with the Senate, and the Speaker may appoint new conferees without intervening motion.
13. It shall not be in order to consider a conference report the text of which differs in any way, other than clerical, from the text that reflects the action of the conferees on all of the differences between the two Houses, as recorded by their placement of their signatures (or not) on the sheets prepared to accompany the conference report and joint explanatory statement of the managers.
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Rule XXVII Rule XXVIII