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AMENDMENTS BETWEEN THE TWO HOUSES.

vision in any such bill or amendment thereto changing existing law be in order, except such as being germane to the subject-matter of the bill, shall retrench expenditures.-Rule 120. [This rule, so far as relates to amendments offered, is usually enforced with much strictness but an instance is not known where the Committee of the Whole has ever ruled out any portion of a bill as reported from the Committee of Ways and Means, although containing provisions in violation of said rule where the bill was committed without any reservation of points of order.]

(See APPROPRIATION BILLS.)

"The House may at any time, on motion seconded by a majority of the members present, close all debate upon a pending amendment, or an amendment thereto, and Debate may be cause the question to be put thereon; and this shall not out precluding preclude any further amendment or debate upon the bill."-Rule 132.

closed on, with

further.

gression from dis

herence.

AMENDMENTS BETWEEN THE TWO HOUSES.

When either house, e. g., the House of Representatives send a bill to the other, the other may pass it with Regular pro- amendments. The regular progression in this case is: agreement to ad. that the House disagree to the amendment; the Senate insist on it; the House insist on their disagreement; the Senate adhere to their amendment; the House adhere to their disagreement.-(See Manual, pp. 125, 126.) "After each house shall have adhered to their disagreement, a bill or resolution shall be lost."-Joint Rule 15.

Effect of adherence by both houses.

Either may recede.

house

takes precedence

"Either house may recede from its amendment and agree to the bill; or recede from their disagreement to the amendment, and agree to the same absolutely, or Motion to recede with an amendment.”—Manual, p. 126. And a motion to of motion to insist. recede takes precedence of a motion to insist.-Journals, House cannot 1, 23, p. 229; 1, 29, p. 696. "But the house cannot resist on its amend- cede from or insist on its own amendment with an They may modify an amendamend- ment from the other house by ingrafting an amendment

recede from or in

ment with amend

ment, but may amendment.

amend other

house's

ment.

*

*

on it."-Manual, p. 126.

an amendment of

amend the other's

amendment.

"A motion to amend an amendment from the other Motion to amend house takes precedence of a motion to agree or disagree. other house. A bill originating in one house is passed by the other One house may with an amendment. The originating house agrees to amendment to its their amendment with an amendment. The other may agree to their amendment with an amendment, that being only in the second and not the third degree; for, as to the amending house, the first amendment with which they passed the bill is a part of its text; it is the only text they have agreed to.”—Ibid., p. 123.

at least before ad

adhere in first into insist takes pre

"In the ordinary parliamentary course there are two Two conferences free conferences, at least, before an adherence"-Manual, berence. p. 126; Journals, 1, 34, p. 943; 1, 35, p. 1136—although either house is free to pass over the term of insisting and But house may to adhere in the first instance; but it is not respectful stance, but motion to the other.-Manual, p. 126. A motion to insist, how- cedence. ever, takes precedence of a motion to adhere.-Journal, 1, 34, pp. 1518, 1526.-(See CONFERENCE COMMITTEES.) After one house has adhered, the other may recede— Journals, 1, 1, pp. 113, 114; 1, 2, p. 152; 1,8, pp. 671, 673— or ask a conference, which may be agreed to by the adhering house.-Journals, 1, 1, pp. 156, 157; 1, 3, pp. 281, 283; 1, 35, pp. 604, 615, 620.-(See ADHERE, MOTION TO.)

APPEAL.

After adherence by one house.

der arising out of

another question

to be decided first.

Questions of or

der relative to

evancy, &c., sub

"A question of order arising out of any other question, Question of ormust be decided before that question.”—Manual, p. 105. Questions of order decided by the Speaker shall be "subject to an appeal to the House by any two members; motions, their relon which appeal no member shall speak more than once, ject to. unless by leave of the Honse."-Rule 2. [The questions Debate on. of order herein referred to relate to motions or propositions, their applicability or relevancy, &c.-Note to Rule 2.] But "all incidental questions of order arising after a motion is made for the previous question, and pending When not desuch motion, shall be decided, whether on appeal or otherwise, without debate.”—Rule 133. [So, too, under the practice, all questions of order which may arise, pending a question which is not debatable, must be decided with

batable.

In case of mem

ber transgressing

or indecorum.

out debate.] And "all questions relating to the priority of business to be acted on shall be decided without debate."-Rule 66.

may,

"If any member, in speaking or otherwise, transgress rules in speaking, the rules of the House, the Speaker shall, or any member call to order; in which case the member so called to order shall immediately sit down, unless permitted to explain; and the House shall, if appealed to, decide on the Not debatable. case, but without debate.”—Rule 61. [The call to order herein referred to has reference only to "transgressions of the rules in speaking," or to indecorum of any kind.] (See ORDER.)

No appeal on point of order

"If any difficulty arises in point of order during the during a division. division, the Speaker is to decide peremptorily, subject to the future censure of the House, if irregular.—Manual, p. 122.

May be laid on table, and its ef fect.

Where too late to raise the question of order.

Question just decided on, cannot be renewed.

Where too late

to reconsider vote on appeal.

Pending the election of Speaker, Clerk to decide questions of order.

An appeal may be laid on the table-Journal, 1, 26, p. 529; and, being laid on the table, does not carry with it the whole subject.—Ibid., p. 530. [Of late years this motion is almost invariably made in case of an appeal; and, if carried, its effect is considered equivalent to a vote sustaining the decision of the Chair.]

It is too late to renew a question of order on the admis sibility of a proposition which has been overruled on the preceding day, where debate has been allowed to progress on such proposition.-Journal, 1, 30, p. 989. And it is also too late to raise a question of order on a motion entertained without objection on a former day, and entered on the Journal.-Ibid., 2, 30, p. 382; 1, 38, p. 538.

A question of order just decided on appeal cannot be renewed, even upon the suggestion of additional reasons.-Ibid., 1, 32, p. 935.

Where an appeal has been decided, and by virtue of such decision a bill taken up and passed, it is too late to move a reconsideration of the vote on the appeal.—Ibid., 1, 31, pp. 860, 861.

Pending the election of a Speaker, the Clerk shall decide all questions of order that may arise, subject to appeal to the House.-Rule 146.

in while another is pending.

An appeal is not in order while another appeal is Not order pending.-Cong. Globe, 1, 27, p. 154; 2, 29, p. 290.

on, stated.

[The form of stating the question on an appeal is, How questions "Shall the decision of the Chair stand as the judgment "All questions of order shall be noted by the Clerk, of the House?"] with the decision, and put together at the end of the and put at end of Journal of every session."-Rule 15.

APPROPRIATION BILLS.

Questions of order to be noted

Journal.

to be reported.

"It shall be the duty of the Committee on Appropria- General, when tions, within thirty days after their appointment, at every session of Congress, commencing on the first Monday of December, to report the general appropriation bills for legislative, executive, and judicial expenses; for sundry civil expenses; for consular and diplomatic expenses; for the Army; for the Navy; for the expenses of the Indian Department; for the payment of invalid and other pensions; for the support of the Military Academy; for fortifications; for the service of the PostOffice Department, and for mail transportation by ocean steamers; or, in failure thereof, the reasons of such failure. And said committee shall have leave to report General, may be reported at any said bills (for reference only) at any time. In all cases time. where appropriations cannot be made specific in amount, Amount of apthe maximum to be expended shall be stated, and each must be stated. appropriation bill when reported from the committee shall, in the concluding clause, state the sum total of all the items contained in said bill."-Rule 77.

propriations in,

of.

The style and title of all acts making appropriations Style and title for the support of Government shall be as follows: "An act making appropriations (here insert the object) for the year ending June 30." (Here insert the calendar year.)-R. S., Sec. 11.

"In preparing bills of appropriation for other objects, the Committee on Appropriations shall not include appropriations for carrying into effect treaties made by the United States; and when an appropriation bill shall be referred to them for their consideration which contains appropriations for carrying a treaty into effect, and for

Appropriations

for carrying out

treaties not to be

included in.

But where com

mitted, cannot be

other objects, they shall propose such amendments as shall prevent appropriations for carrying a treaty into effect being included in the same bill with appropriations for other objects.”—Rule 76.

But where a general appropriation bill, containing an ruled out of order. item for carrying out a treaty, has been committed by the House, it cannot be ruled out of order by the Committee of the Whole.-Cong. Globe, 2, 31, pp. 356, 357. [Unless the point was reserved before commitment.]

Amendment to

general.

To be first discussed in Commit

"No appropriation shall be reported in such general appropriation bills, or be in order as an amendment thereto, for any expenditure not previously authorized by law, unless in continuation of appropriations for such public works and objects as are already in progress, nor shall any provision in any such bill or amendment thereto changing existing law be in order, except such as being germane to the subject-matter of the bill shall retrench expenditures."-Rule 120.

[This rule is rigidly enforced, so far as relates to amendments offered in the House or in committee, but it not unfrequently happens that bills are reported which are in conflict with it; and as they are usually received by the House and committed without being read in extenso, the conflict is not discovered until they are considered in committee, when it is too late (unless it is reserved in the House) to make the point.]

"All proceedings touching appropriations of money, tee of the Whole. and all bills making appropriations of money or property, or requiring such appropriations to be made, or authorizing payments out of appropriations already made, shall be first discussed in a Committee of the Whole House."-Rule 112.

When point of

order on, cannot

[The foregoing rule was adopted January 13, 1874. Prior to that time, bills directing the disbursement of money already appropriated, or requiring future appropriations to be made, or making an appropriation of land, were not necessarily first considered in Committee of the Whole.]

When the rules have been suspended for the purpose be well taken. of enabling the report of a measure to be made, and also

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