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An amendment is a proposal of a member of Congress to alter the language, provisions or stipulations in a bill or in another amendment. A bill may be amended at any stage of the legislative process: during the initial review or "mark-up" of a new bill by a subcommittee, during consideration by the full committee, during floor action in the House or Senate, or during conference between the House and Senate to reconcile different versions of the bill. In general, amendments are debated and voted upon in the same manner as a bill.
Senate amendments are always printed in the Congressional Record with a unique Senate amendment number. Many House amendments offered on the floor are printed in the Congressional Record. When the text of a House amendment does appear in the Record, its text is identified by a temporary number relating only to that bill. For example, there may be a House Amendment No. 4 to H.R. 2, a House Amendment No. 4 to H.R. 50, a House Amendment No. 4 to H.R. 450, and so forth. The Legislative Operations section of the House Clerk's Office assigns unique sequential amendment numbers as amendments are offered on the floor. These are the House amendment numbers that appear in THOMAS.
When a Senate amendment is referred to a committee for consideration, a "Committee of Referral" is shown in the amendments display.
The THOMAS amendments display shows one or more amendments to the bill. Each amendment display includes: the amendment number (e.g., S.Amdt.2153 or H.Amdt. 342), the number of the bill it amends (with a link to the Bill Summary & Status page for that bill), a link to the full text of the amendment in the Congressional Record for Senate amendments, the legislative status of the amendment, and any amendment cosponsors.
Other information may appear in the amendments display when it is available for the amendment. When amendments receive the attention of the popular media, they are sometimes accorded a popular title. Finally, when a Senate amendment is referred to committee for consideration, a "Committee of Referral" is shown in the amendments display.
For a more complete description of the amending process, read How Our Laws Are Made.