HOUSE PROTOCOL:

A Guide on Process and Procedure in the House of Representatives

Class #6 - "Resolving Differences with the Senate"

I. Basic Principles and Definitions

A. Mutual Agreement
- Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution, requires that before a measure can become law, both Houses must agree to the same bill, either a House or a Senate bill, and they must agree on each provision of the bill.

- Although the two Houses may pass similar measures on the same subject, neither bill may be sent to the President for signature or become law unless both Houses pass the same numbered bill, with the identical text.

- The two versions must be reconciled by mutual agreement.

B. Disagreement Between Houses
- A disagreement between Houses does not automatically occur; it must be deliberate. A stage of disagreement is the point at which both Houses declare that further formal negotiation is necessary to reach a point of mutual agreement.

- A stage of disagreement may occur when the House passes a Senate bill with one or more House amendments and then insists on its amendment(s) and requests a conference with the Senate.

- Or the House receives a House-passed bill with one or more Senate amendments. House then disagrees to Senate amendment(s) and either requests a conference or agrees to the Senate's request for a conference.

- The House takes either action by unanimous consent or by a motion made at the direction of the committees of jurisdiction.

II. Reconciling Differences Between House and Senate Bills

A. The Bill Shuttle
- Bills that are passed by both Houses with only minor differences are not necessarily sent to conference.

- For example, the House receives a House-passed bill with one or more Senate amendments (or House receives Senate amendment(s) to House amendment(s)). House then concurs in Senate amendment(s) or concurs in Senate amendments with one or more House amendments. In either case action would be completed on the legislation.

- The House generally acts by unanimous consent, under suspension of the rules, or pursuant to a special rule.

- Agreement may also be reached by the leaders of the committees of jurisdiction in both Houses working out an informal compromise bill without having a formal conference.

B. House-Senate Conference Committee
- A meeting between representatives of the House (appointed by Speaker) and the Senate (appointed by the presiding officer) to reconcile differences when each chamber passes different versions of a similar bill.

- This is often called the "third House of Congress."

III. Pre-Conference Committee Process

A. Requesting a Conference
- Upon passage of a bill in either House, that House can request a conference with the other. The request for a conference must be agreed upon by both Houses.

B. Motion to Instruct Conferees
- One valid motion to instruct in order before Speaker names conferees. Motion to instruct is a minority prerogative, and may be amended unless previous question is ordered. If the sponsor and the manager from the other party both support the motion, an opponent can claim one-third of the first hour of debate. Instructions are not binding and must be within authority of the conferees.

C. Selecting Conferees
- The Speaker appoints House conferees immediately after House decides to go to conference or after House disposes of motion to instruct.

D. Motion to Close Conference
- If necessary, chairman of House conferees makes motion authorizing them to close one or more conference meetings. Motion requires rollcall vote.

IV. The Committee Process

A. Bargaining in Conference
- Motions to instruct or discharge House conferees are in order beginning 20 calendar days after their appointment. One day's notice must be given.

- The conferees must reach agreement on all amendments in disagreement between the House and Senate.

B. Open, Public Meetings
- The rules of the House require that a committee of conference hold at least one public meeting prior to the completion of the consideration of a conference report. A point of order lies against any conference report in the House that fails to abide by this rule. There is no such rule of the Senate.

C. Role of Staff
- Committee and personal staff play a critical role in the development of a conference report.

- Often the conferees will hold an initial meeting at which some level of agreement will be reached on the "big ticket" ideas or an agreement will be reached on what major issues remain in disagreement. At this point the committee of conference will often turn negotiation of the major items over to the staff of the conferees and the committees of jurisdiction of both Houses who will seek to resolve them on behalf of their members.

D. Parts Open to Debate
- The only parts of a conference on a bill open to discussion and/or change are those portions of the bill under consideration which are subjects of disagreement.

- Should a committee of conference alter or remove a provision that was not in disagreement, the final conference report would then be subject to a point of order for violating the scope of the conference.

V. The Conference Report

A. Filing the Conference Report
- The signed conference report must be filed with both Houses prior to its consideration.

B. The Statement of Managers
- The statement of managers is the portion of the conference report providing the history, explanation and intent of the conferees. It fulfills a function similar to that of a committee report.

C. Signatures of Conferees

- Majority of House conferees and majority of Senate conferees must sign conference report and statement of managers (joint explanatory statement).

D. Legal Issues
- Only the actual legislative text of a conference rport is legally binding on the executive branch. The statement of managers provides only the legislative intent of the actual law. It is used by the courts as a means of interpreting the p[urpose and operation of the statute.

VI. Amendments in Disagreement

A. Relation to Conference Report
- A committee of conference may often accompany a conference report with an amendment in disagreement between Houses. This has the effect of declaring mutual agreement on the conference report while remaining in disagreement on the amendment. The conference report is not considered agreed to by both Houses until both Houses complete consideration of the amendment in disagreement in the same manner.

B. Amendments Between Houses
- Speaker directs Clerk to designate each Senate amendment in disagreement, if any. Majority floor manager proposes to dispose of Senate amendment by moving that House:

(1) recede and concur in Senate amendment,
(2) recede and concur with House amendment to Senate amendment, or
(3) insist on its disagreement to Senate amendment.

- Motion debatable under hour rule and may be subject to division, amendment, or preferential motion.

- Amendments in disagreement typically accompany conference reports on appropriations bills.

- If Senate rejects House position, House act on further Senate messages.

VII. Consideration of the Conference Report

A. Privileged Status in House
- House and Senate rules automatically consider conference reports as privileged measures for consideration. However, this privileged status does not prevent points of order from being raised against the conference report for violation of the rules of the House governing their consideration.

B. Rules Governing a Conference Report (Conference Committee)