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After reading.

&c.

secon

Open to debate,

Commitment.

Amendment.

"Upon the second reading of the bill, the Speaker shall state it as ready for commitment or engrossment; and, if committed, then a question shall be, whether to a select or standing committee, or to a Committee of the Whole House; if no motion be made to commit, the question shall be stated on its engrossment; and if it be not ordered to be engrossed on the day of its being reported, it shall be placed on the general file on the Speaker's table, to be taken up in order. But if the bill be ordered to be engrossed, the House shall appoint the day when it shall be read the third time."-Rule 118.

[The settled practice of the House upon the second reading of a bill, unless it be an APPROPRIATION BILL, (which see,) is to consider it as open to debate,] when, under the 42d Rule, it is in a condition for a motion to lie on the table, for the previous question, to postpone to a day certain, to commit or amend, to postpone indefinitely, which several motions take precedence in the Enacting words order in which they are arranged. "But a motion to strike out the enacting words of a bill shall have precedence of a motion to amend; and, if carried, shall be considered equivalent to its rejection."-Rule 123. (See all of said motions respectively.)

may be stricken out.

Engrossment and third reading.

[The question of engrossment is put in this form, viz: "Shall the bill be engrossed and read a third time?" If it be negatived, the bill is rejected; but if it be decided in the affirmative, and the bill is actually engrossed, or no question is made on its failure to be engrossed, the Speaker immediately directs "the third reading of the bill." But if the question is made, and it be not actually engrossed, the bill goes to the Speaker's table. In the

Third reading of case of a Senate bill, the engrossment having already

Senate bills.

In case of a bill

been made before it came to the House, the question which arises is, "Shall the bill be read a third time?” which being decided negatively the bill is rejected, but being decided affirmatively the bill is immediately read a third time.]

[Where the bill has a preamble, although there is no with a preamble. rule, and until lately no settled practice, defining the stage at which it is to be considered, it would seem to be most appropriate that its consideration should take place after

the bill has been ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and before the third reading takes place. By this course, the bill can be engrossed either with or without the preamble, as the House shall have determined.] [After the third reading of a bill, the question which After third readnext arises in course is, "Shall the bill pass?" At this stage the bill is again open to debate, but is not amend- Debate. able; it may, however, under the 124th Rule, be recommitted at any time before passage.-(See RECOMMIT,

MOTION TO.)]

ing.

Recommitment.

[The bill having passed, and the title having been After passage. read, the Speaker states, "If there be no objection this

will remain the title of the bill." The title, however, is Title.
subject to amendment, and, unless the previous question
is ordered on it, is also debatable.]

[After the title is disposed of, it is usual for the member having charge of the bill to move "that the vote last taken be reconsidered, and that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table;" which latter motion having been decided in the affirmative, no reconsideration can take place, and the transmission of the bill to the Senate cannot be delayed. Indeed, it is not uncommon to make the motion "to reconsider and lie" at every stage of the bill.]

After title disposed of.

Motion to recon. sider and lie.

Certified

by

Clerk and taken

Not to be taken

The bill is then, as required by Rule 127, "certified by the Clerk, notifying the day of its passage at the foot to the Senate. thereof," and conveyed by him to the Senate, "together with all the papers on which it is founded," as required by Joint Rule 14. But "no bill that shall have passed one house shall be sent for concurrence to the other on either of the last three days of the session."-Joint Rule 16. [This rule is almost invariably suspended by the two houses near the close of a session.]

to the Senate on

last three days of

session.

To be on paper, when on passage

houses.

"While bills are on their passage between the two houses, they shall be on paper, and under the signature between the two of the Secretary or Clerk of each house respectively.”— Joint Rule 5.

of, from Senate,

[After the bill has been acted on by the Senate, it is After the return brought back to the House by the Secretary of the Sen- with amendment. ate, together with a report of their action thereon. If it has passed with amendment, it is placed on the Speak

Action on Senate amendment to.

When the Senate amendment is agreed to.

Amendments between the bouses.

both houses, to be

er's table, to be taken up in its order under the 54th Rule.

When taken up, the amendment of the Senate may be either agreed to, disagreed to, or agreed to with amendment; in case of an appropriation of money being involved in the amendment, however, it must be first considered in a Committee of the Whole.

If the amendment of the Senate is agreed to, that body is notified of the fact by message through the Clerk, and the bill is enrolled.]

In case of disagreement by the House to, or amendment of, the Senate's amendment, see AMENDMENTS BETWEEN THE HOUSES and CONFERENCE COMMITTEES. After passage by "After a bill shall have passed both houses, it shall enrolled on parch- be duly enrolled on parchment by the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate, as the bill may have originated in the one or the other house, before it shall be presented to the President of the United States."-Joint Rule 6.

ment.

When enrolled,

to be examined.

When examined

to be reported to

"When bills are enrolled, they shall be examined by a joint committee of two from the Senate and two from the House of Representatives, appointed as a standing committee for that purpose, who shall carefully compare the enrolment with the engrossed bills, as passed in the two houses, and, correcting any errors that may be discovered in the enrolled bills, make their report forthwith to their respective houses."-Joint Rule 7.

(See ENROLLED BILLS, COMMITTEE ON.)

"After examination and report, each bill shall be signed House and signed in their respective houses, first by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, then by the President of the Senate."-Joint Rule 8.

by Speaker.

ed by presiding of

After being sign- "After a bill shall have been thus signed in each house, ficers, to be pre- it shall be presented by the said committee to the Presisented to President of the United States for his approbation, it being

deut.

first endorsed on the back of the roll, certifying in which house the same originated; which endorsement shall be signed by the Secretary or Clerk (as the case may be) of the house in which the same did originate, and shall be entered on the Journal of each house. The said committee shall report the day of presentation to the Presi

But not on last

day of session.

dent, which time shall also be carefully entered on the Journal of each house."-Joint Rule 9. But "no bill or resolution that shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall be presented to the President of the United States for his approbation on the last day of the session.”—Joint Rule 17. [This rule, like the 16th, is generally suspended near the close of the session.] After a bill is presented to the President, "if he approve After being prehe shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his dent. objections, to that house in which it shall have originated.”—Const., 1, 7, p. 10. [Where the President ap- where bill is proves a bill, it is customary for him to notify the house proved. where the bill originated of the fact, and the date of his approval, which is entered on the Journal.]

When an act has been approved by the President the usual number of copies shall be printed for the use of the House.-Rule 157. And messages from the President giving notice of bills approved shall be repeated from the Clerk's desk forthwith.-Rule 158.

sented to Presi

ap

In case of a bill returned with the objections of the Where vetoed. President, see VETO.

turned within ten

"If any bill shall not be returned by the President Where not rewithin ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have days. been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law."-Const., 1, 7, p. 10. Where a bill is allowed to become a law by reason of the failure of the President to return the same, it is usual for him to notify the House of that fact, as in the case of approval.Journals, 2, 36, pp. 424, 480; 2, 39, p. 479. Aud where Where President he is prevented by an adjournment from returning a bill, returning by reait is usual for him to communicate his reasons for not ment. approving it at the next session.-Journals, 2, 12, p. 544; 1, 30, p. 82; 2, 35, p. 151.

is prevented from

son of adjourn

one house is re

"When a bill or resolution which shall have passed in Where bill of one house is rejected in the other, notice thereof shall be jected in the other. given to the house in which the same shall have passed."Joint Rule 12. And when so rejected, "it shall not be Not to be brought brought in during the same session, without a notice of leave of two. ten days and leave of two-thirds of that house in which it shall be renewed.”—Joint Rule 13.

in again without

thirds.

Billsu ndisposed

of at end of session.

Printing of.

Of extra copies

of documents.

Of session documents.

Superintendent

of Public Printing

In regard to bills left undisposed of at the end of a session, see UNFINISHED BUSINESS.

In regard to the printing of bills, see PRINTING, PUBLIC.

BINDING.

Extra copies of documents, the size of which shall not be less than 250 pages, shall be bound under the direction of the Committee on Printing on the part of the House, at a cost not exceeding 123 cents per volume.—Act of March 3, 1853.—Stat. at Large, Vol. X, p. 190.

"The Clerk shall have preserved for each member of the House an extra copy, in good binding, of all the documents printed by order of either house at each future session of Congress.”—Rule 18.

By the joint resolution of June 23, 1860, the Superinto have executed. tendent of Public Printing is directed to have the binding of each house executed.—Stat. at Large, Vol. XII, p. 117 to 120.

To be furnished

by Superintend

(See PRINTING, PUBLIC.)

BLANK BOOKS.

All the blank books ordered by Congress, or by either ent of Public house of Congress, shall be done and executed under the Superintendent of Public Printing.-Stat. at Large, Vol. XII, p. 118.

Printing.

[blocks in formation]

BLANKS.

"In filling up blanks, the largest sum and longest time shall be first put."-Rule 50. [But where a specific time or sum stands part of a motion, it is not until it is struck out, and a blank thereby produced, that this rule can begin to operate.]

"A bill passed by the one house with blanks. These may be filled up by the other by way of amendments, returned to the first as such, and passed."—Manual, p. 111.

"In all ballotings blanks shall be rejected, and not taken into the count in enumeration of votes, or reported by the tellers."-Rule 12.

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