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Congressional Procedure
A Practical Guide to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress: The House of Representatives and Senate Explained
By Richard A. Arenberg
Additional Resources
Pocket Constitution
Previous: Chapter 5 – Senate Floor
Chapter 6 – Resolving Differences Between the House and Senate
A. Introduction
B. Resolving Differences
C. Amendments Between the Chambers
D. Conference Committee
E. Conference Reports
F. Failure to Take Up a Measure
G. The President
Chapter 6. Senate Floor
6. A. Introduction
- Pocket Constitution
- Constitution, Article 1 Section 7
- Congress by the Numbers
- Leadership and Committees of Congress
Unwritten Rules of Congress | Ron’s Office Hours | NPR
- Resolving Legislative Differences in Congress: Conference Committees and Amendments Between the Houses, CRS Report 98-696 (40-page PDF
) - The Origination Clause of the U.S. Constitution: Interpretation and Enforcement, CRS Report RL31399 (24-page PDF)
6. B. Resolving Differences
- Amendments Between the Houses / Insist / Amendments in Disagreement / Amendments in Technical Disagreement (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Bills / Measure / Passed (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Conference Report (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Engrossed Bill / Engrossed Measure (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Hold (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Conference / Conference Committee (CongressionalGlossary.com)
-
Resolving Legislative Differences in Congress: Conference Committees and Amendments Between the Houses, CRS Report 98-696 (40-page PDF)
- The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction, CRS Report 95-563 (18-page PDF)
Resolving Differences
- Filibusters and Cloture in the Senate, CRS Report RL30360 (29-page PDF)
- “Holds” in the Senate, CRS Report R43563 (13-page PDF)
- “Holds on Nominations,” CRS Insight IN12200 (5-page PDF)
- “It’s Not The Filibuster’s Fault We Have ‘Gridlock,’ It’s The Senators’,” by Michael Connolly, Federalist, December 3, 2021
6. C. Amendments Between the Chambers
- Amendments Between the Houses / Insist / Amendments in Disagreement / Amendments in Technical Disagreement (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Concurrent Resolution (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Conference / Conference Committee (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Floor Manager (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Substitute / Substitute Amendment / Queen-of-the-Hill Rule (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Amendments Between the Houses: Procedural Options and Effects, CRS Report R41003 (40-page PDF)
- Amendments Between the Houses, CRS Report 98-812 (6-page PDF)
I’m Just a Bill (Schoolhouse Rock!)
- The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction, CRS Report 95-563 (18-page PDF)
- Messages and Amendments Between the Houses, Senate
6. D. Conference Committee
- Bills / Measure / Passed (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Conference / Conference Committee (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Conferees / Managers / Instruct Conferees (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Amendments Between the Houses / Insist / Amendments in Disagreement / Amendments in Technical Disagreement (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Disagree (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Point of Order (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Precedents of the House of Representatives / Cannon’s / Deschler’s / Hinds’ / House Practice (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Whither the Role of Conference Committees: An Analysis, CRS Report RL34611 (48-page PDF)
- Commonly Used Motions and Requests in the House of Representatives, CRS Report RL32207 (20-page PDF)
- Conference Committee and Related Procedures: An Introduction, CRS Report 96-708 (15-page PDF)
- Conference Committees and Reports, Senate
- Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, P.L. 108-173, GPO
Resolving Differences
- Resolving Legislative Differences in Congress: Conference Committees and Amendments Between the Houses, CRS Report 98-696 (40-page PDF)
- “The Senate Syndrome: The Evolution of Procedural Warfare in the Modern U.S. Senate,” by Steven S. Smith (Amazon)
- Senate Conferees: Their Selection and Authority, CRS Report 98-380 (8-page PDF)
- “House Conferees: Restrictions on Their Authority,” CRS Report RS20219 (8-page PDF
)
6. E. Conference Reports
- Amendments Between the Houses / Insist / Amendments in Disagreement / Amendments in Technical Disagreement (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Conferees / Managers / Instruct Conferees (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Conference Report (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Enrolled Bill / Enrolled Measure (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Joint Explanatory Statement of Managers (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Custody of the Papers / Papers (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Privilege / Privileged Questions / Question of Privilege (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Motion to Recommit / Recommit to Committee / Table / Lay on the Table (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Recede and Concur with an Amendment (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Conference Reports, GPO
- How to find committee reports and conference reports, Senate
- Conference Committees and Reports, Senate
- Conference Reports and Joint Explanatory Statements, CRS Report 98-382 (5-page PDF)
- Instructing House Conferees, CRS Report 98-381 (6-page PDF)
- Instructing Senate Conferees, CRS Report RS20209 (9-page PDF)
- How to find committee reports and conference reports, Senate
- Secretary of the Senate
- Clerk of the House
- Senate Rules Restricting the Content of Conference Reports, CRS Report RS22733 (9-page PDF)
6. F. Failure to Take Up a Measure
- Bills / Measure / Passed (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Resolving Legislative Differences in Congress: Conference Committees and Amendments Between the Houses, CRS Report 98-696 (40-page PDF)
- The Office of the Parliamentarian in the House and Senate, CRS Report RS20544 (4-page PDF)
How to hold a teacup and stir properly
- “Yes, the Senate is ignoring hundreds of bills passed by the GOP House. But it’s always that way,” by Philip Bump, The Washington Post, August 8, 2014,
- “Are 300 House bills really bottled up in the Senate?” by Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post, November 7, 2014
How To Drink An Indian Tea or Coffee from the saucer
6. G. The President
- Pocket Constitution
- Constitution, Article I, Section 7
- Line Item Veto (Item Veto) (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Pocket Veto (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Quorum (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Veto (CongressionalGlossary.com)
- Override a Veto (CongressionalGlossary.com)
Presidential Actions
- Veto Override Procedure in the House and Senate, CRS Report RS22654 (9-page PDF)
- Regular Vetoes and Pocket Vetoes: In Brief, CRS Report RS22188 (18-page PDF)
- The Presidential Veto and Congressional Procedure, CRS Report RS21750 (6-page PDF)
- The Pocket Veto: Its Current Status, CRS Report RL30909 (31-page PDF)
- Presidential Vetoes, House
- Summary of Bills Vetoed, 1789-present, Senate
The Pocket Veto Explained
- The Presidential Veto and Congressional Veto Override Process, NARA (4-page PDF)
- National Archives
- “Gubernatorial Veto Authority with Respect to Major Budget Bill(s)“. NCSL
President Trump signs bills overturning regulations
- Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998), Oyez, LII Cornell, Puppet Show (YouTube)
Next: Chapter 7 – The Congressional Budget and Other Special Cases
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