Basic Principles. Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution, requires that before a measure can become law, both Houses must agree to a bill in identical form. 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. However, a disagreement between the Houses does not automatically occur; it must be deliberate. The 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 amendments and requests a conference with the Senate, or when the House receives a House-passed bill with one or more Senate amendments and the House then disagrees to the Senate amendments and either requests a conference or agrees to the Senate's request for a conference. The House may take either action by unanimous consent, a special rule or by a motion made at the direction of the primary committee of jurisdiction and all reporting committees that had an initial referral of the bill.

The Bill Shuttle. Bills that are passed by both Houses with only minor differences are not necessarily sent to conference. For example, if the House receives a House-passed bill with one or more Senate amendments (or the House receives Senate amendments to a House amendment to a Senate bill), the House may then concur in the Senate amendments or concur in the Senate amendments with one or more House amendments. In the first case, action would be completed on the legislation. 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.

The Conference Committee. A committee of conference is a formal meeting between representatives of the House (appointed by the Speaker) and the Senate (appointed by the presiding officer) to reconcile differences. 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. Often a committee chairman receives authorization from the relevant committees to request a conference with the Senate when the bill has been ordered reported from the committee. When that request is made, one motion to instruct conferees is in order before the Speaker names conferees. The initial motion to instruct is a minority prerogative but, if the sponsor and the manager from the other party both support the motion, an opponent can claim one-third of the hour of debate on the motion. These instructions are not binding and must instruct conferees on matters within their authority. The Speaker appoints House conferees after the House decides to go to conference or after the House disposes of the motion to instruct. Once in conference any Member may offer a motion to instruct or discharge House conferees beginning 20 calendar days after their appointment and after giving one day's notice.

The rules of the House require that a committee of conference hold at least one public meeting. All conference agreements must remain within the scope of the differences between the House and Senate positions. The only parts of a bill open to discussion and/or change are those portions of the bill which are the subjects of disagreement. Should a committee of conference alter or remove a provision that was not in disagreement, or add a provision that was not committed to conference, the conference report would be subject to a point of order for violating the scope of the conference (a rule from the Rules Committee may waive the point of order.) A majority of House conferees and a majority of Senate conferees must sign the conference report and the statement of managers (joint explanatory statement). The statement of managers is the portion of the conference report providing the history, explanation and legislative intent of the conferees. The signed conference report is then filed with both Houses prior to its consideration. A conference report may also be accompanied by an amendment in disagreement between the 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. The House may dispose of a Senate amendment by adopting a motion to recede and concur in a Senate amendment, recede and concur with a House amendment to a Senate amendment, or insist on its disagreement with the Senate amendment. Such a motion is debatable under the hour rule. If the Senate rejects the House position, the House must then act on further Senate messages.

House Consideration of Conference Reports. Conference reports are privileged measures. However, this privileged status does not prevent points of order from being raised against the conference report for violating a rule of the House. Often a point of order lies against a conference report thereby requiring a special rule from the Rules Committee in order for the report to be considered on the floor. (It is important to note that points of order against a conference report lie against its consideration, not against individual provisions contained within the report. A conference report represents the collective agreement of the House with the Senate. Changing individual components of the agreement violates the sanctity of the agreement itself. This is also why conference reports are not amendable.) Conference reports must satisfy the three-day layover requirement before consideration. Furthermore, the House or Senate can only consider the conference report when the actual "papers" of the conference report are before it. At the conclusion of the hour of debate, a motion to recommit is in order in the House if the Senate has not already agreed to the conference report.

Key Parliamentary Term

Hour Rule - A House rule that permits Members, when recognized, to hold the floor in debate for no more than one hour each. Special rules reported by the Rules Committee and special orders are considered under this procedure. Although the hour rule applies to general debate in the Committee of the Whole as well as in the House, special rules routinely vary the length of time for such debate and its control to fit the circumstances of particular measures. Theoretically, the hour rule could allow all Members to each speak for one hour on a measure, but in practice the manager usually moves the previous question at or near the end of his hour and a majority of the House usually votes to support the motion, thereby shutting off all further debate. The hour rule also applies to debate on a conference report, but the hour must be equally divided between the majority and minority parties. If both floor managers support the report, however, an opponent may be allotted one-third of the time.