"I have been in this body long enough to beware of the chairman of a committee who says in an enticing voice, `Let me take the amendment to conference,' because I think that is frequently the parliamentary equivalent of saying, `Let me take the child into the tower and I will strangle him to death.'."

The comment of one Senator on the use of floor amendments as "bargaining chips" in conference.

* RESOLVING DIFFERENCES WITHOUT GOING TO CONFERENCE

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

* REACHING DISAGREEMENT WITH THE SENATE

• House passes a Senate bill with one or more House amendments. House then insists on its amendment(s) and requests a conference with the Senate.
• Or 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.
• House takes either action by unanimous consent or by a motion made at direction of the committees of jurisdiction.

* APPOINTING AND INSTRUCTING 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.
• The Speaker appoints House conferees immediately after House decides to go to conference or after House disposes of motion to instruct.
• If necessary, chairman of House conferees makes motion authorizing them to close one or more conference meetings. Motion requires roll call vote.

* REACHING AGREEMENT 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.
• Conferees reach agreement on all amendments in disagreement between the House and Senate. All conference agreements must remain within scope of the differences between the House and Senate positions.
• Majority of House conferees and majority of Senate conferees must sign conference report and statement of managers (joint explanatory statement).

* CONSIDERING CONFERENCE REPORT

• Report must satisfy three-day layover and two-hour availability requirements.
• Report debated and adopted in the House under hour rule with no amendments in order. One valid motion to recommit in order if Senate has not already agreed to the report. House first may vote on a special rule reported by the Rules Committee to protect conference report against points of order.

* DISPOSING OF AMENDMENTS IN DISAGREEMENT

• 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.

Under the Byrd rule, the Senate is prohibited from considering extraneous matter as part of a reconciliation bill or resolution or conference report thereon. The definition of what constitutes "extraneous matter" is set forth in the Budget Act; however, the term remains subject to considerable interpretation by the presiding officer (who relies on the Senate Parliamentarian). The Byrd rule is enforced when a Senator raises a point of order during consideration of a reconciliation bill or conference report. If the point of order is sustained, the offending title, provision or amendment is deemed stricken unless its proponent can muster a 3/5 (60) Senate majority vote to waive the rule.

Subject matter - The Byrd rule may be invoked only against reconciliation bills, amendments thereto, and reconciliation conference reports.

Byrd rule tests - Section 313(b)(1) of the Congressional Budget Act sets forth six tests for matters to be considered extraneous under the Byrd rule. The criteria apply to provisions that:

• do not produce a change in outlays or revenues;
• produce changes in outlays or revenue which are merely incidental to the non-budgetary components of the provision;
• are outside the jurisdiction of the committee that submitted the title or provision for inclusion in the reconciliation measure;
• increase outlays or decrease revenue if the provision's title, as a whole, fails to achieve the Senate reporting committee's reconciliation instructions;
• increase net outlays or decrease revenue during a fiscal year after the years covered by the reconciliation bill unless the provision's title, as a whole, remains budget neutral;
• contain recommendations regarding the OASDI (social security) trust funds.

Exceptions to the Byrd Rule - Section 313(b)(2) allows certain otherwise covered Senate-originated provisions to be excepted from the Byrd rule if the provisions are certified for exemption by the Senate Budget Committee chairman and ranking minority member, as well as the chairman and ranking minority member of the committee of jurisdiction. The permitted exceptions are:

• a provision that mitigates direct effects attributable to a second provision which changes outlays or revenue when the provisions together produce a net reduction in outlays;
• the provision will result in a substantial reduction in outlays or a substantial increase in revenues during fiscal years after the fiscal years covered by the reconciliation bill;
• the provision will likely reduce outlays or increase revenues based on actions that are not currently projected by CBO for scorekeeping purposes; or
• such provision will likely produce significant reduction in outlays or increase in revenues, but due to insufficient data such reduction or increase cannot be reliably estimated.

Effect of points of order - The effect of raising a point of order under the Byrd rule is to strike the offending extraneous provision. If a point of order against a conference report is sustained, the Senate may consider subsequent motions to dispose of that portion of the conference report not subject to the point of order.

Waivers - The Byrd rule is not self-enforcing. A point of order must be raised at the appropriate time to enforce it. The Byrd rule can only be waived by a 3/5 (60) majority vote of the Senate.

KEY DEFINITIONS:

Quorum - The number of Members whose presence is required for the House to conduct business. A quorum in the House is a majority of the Members (218). A quorum in the Committee of the Whole is 100 Members. A quorum is presumed to be present until its absence is demonstrated. Under certain circumstances, a point of order can be made that a quorum is not present, at which time the Speaker (or Chair) counts for a quorum. If a quorum is not present, Members may be summoned to the floor. If a quorum fails to respond to the call, the only business in order is a motion to adjourn or a motion to direct the sergeant-at-arms to request the attendance of absentees.

Unanimous Consent - A method used to expedite consideration of non-controversial measures on the House floor. Proceedings of the House or actions on legislation often take place by unanimous consent of the House (i.e., without objection), whether or not a rule of the House is being violated.

Upcoming in the month of July:

Advanced Parliamentary Procedure briefings in July include:

"Offering an Amendment" July 14, 1997 11:00-12:00 HC-5

"The Record and Calendar" July 28, 1997 11:00-12:00 HC-5

Also, pocket editions of the new "Floor Operations Manual" are available at the Rules Committee office, H-312, The Capitol. Additional Parliamentary Procedure reference material can be found on the Rules Committee web page at http://www.house.gov/rules/ .