Bills (H.R.XXXX)

A bill is the form used for most legislation, whether permanent or temporary, general or special, public or private. A bill originating in the House of Representatives is designated by the letters “H.R.”, signifying “House of Representatives”, followed by a number that it retains throughout all its parliamentary stages. Bills are presented to the President for action when approved in identical form by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Joint Resolutions (H.J.Res.XXXX)

Joint resolutions may originate either in the House of Representatives or in the Senate. There is little practical difference between a bill and a joint resolution. Both are subject to the same procedure, except for a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution. On approval of such a resolution by two-thirds of both the House and Senate, it is sent directly to the Administrator of General Services for submission to the individual states for ratification. It is not presented to the President for approval. A joint resolution originating in the House of Representatives is designated “H.J.Res.” followed by its individual number. Joint resolutions become law in the same manner as bills.

Concurrent Resolutions (H.Con.Res.XXXX)

Matters affecting the operations of both the House of Representatives and Senate are usually initiated by means of concurrent resolutions. A concurrent resolution originating in the House of Representatives is designated “H.Con.Res.” followed by its individual number. On approval by both the House of Representatives and Senate, they are signed by the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate. They are not presented to the President for action.

Simple Resolutions (H.Res.XXXX)

A matter concerning the operation of either the House of Representatives or Senate alone is initiated by a simple resolution. A resolution affecting the House of Representatives is designated “H.Res.” followed by its number. They are not presented to the President for action.

Senate Legislation

Legislation originating in the Senate is identified by following designations:

• Bill: (S.XXXX)
• Joint Resolution: (S.J.Res.XXXX)
• Concurrent Resolution: (S.Con.Res.XXXX)
• Simple Resolution: (S.Res.XXXX)

The motion to recommit provides one final opportunity for the House to debate and amend a measure, typically before the Speaker orders the vote on final passage.  The motion is the prerogative of the Minority party and in many cases constitutes the Minority’s one opportunity to obtain a vote on an alternative or a proposal to improve the measure.

There are two types of motions to recommit under the Rules of the House:

1. If the motion to recommit is with instructions to report a bill or joint resolution “back to the House forthwith with the following amendment,” the amendment is immediately incorporated into the bill. The motion does not delay or kill the bill.  As soon as the House adopts the motion to recommit with instructions to report back forthwith, the chair or other designated committee member immediately rises and announces that, pursuant to the instructions of the House, the measure is reported back to the House with the instructed amendment.  The House then votes on the amendment and, if it is adopted, again on engrossment and third reading of the bill before final passage.  In effect, then, the motion to recommit with instructions to report back forthwith functions just like an amendment to the measure.

2. If the motion to recommit is without instructions, adoption of the motion sends the bill back to committee without a final vote on its passage.  In other words, the House has said, “send it back to the committee from whence it came.  We don’t want it as it is.”

The Member offering the motion must be opposed to the measure, or state his or her opposition to the measure “in its current form.”  This requirement is in place to ensure that the motion is used to allow the Minority a final opportunity to have its version of the bill brought to a vote (using a motion to recommit with instructions), or to return the bill to committee (using a motion without instructions). 

The motion to commit is ordinarily debatable for 10 minutes, five minutes in favor of the motion and five opposed.

Today the previous question is a motion that is the only parliamentary device in the House used for both closing debate and preventing amendment. The effect of adopting the previous question is to bring the pending proposition or question to an immediate, final vote. The motion is most often made (as opposed to ordered by a rule) at the conclusion of debate on a rule or a motion or piece of legislation prior to final passage. A Member might think about ordering the previous question in terms of answering the question: Is the House ready to vote on the bill or amendment before it?

Furthermore, in order to amend a rule (other than by the manager’s offering an amendment to it or by the manager yielding for the purpose of amendment), the House must vote against ordering the previous question. If the motion for the previous question is defeated, the House is in effect, turning control of the Floor over to the Member who led the opposition.

If the motion for the previous question is defeated, the Speaker then recognizes the Member who led the opposition to the previous question (usually a Member of the Minority party) to control an additional hour of debate during which a germane amendment may be offered to the rule. The Member controlling the Floor then moves the previous question on the amendment and the rule. If the previous question is ordered, the next vote occurs on the amendment followed by a vote on the rule as amended or not. 

Under Rule XVIII, the motion to reconsider is available to any Member who votes on the prevailing side of a question and who wishes to move reconsideration on the same or succeeding legislative day. This normally only occurs when Members (usually Minority party Members) determine there is a need to slow down the legislative process.

It is the common practice in the House for the Speaker to follow final passage of most bills or resolutions with the statement: "Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table." If no objection is raised, this has the parliamentary effect of ending any possibility that another vote on the bill can take place.