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Enactment of a Law
Committee Rules
Rule XXVI on committee procedure provides that each committee shall
adopt rules (not inconsistent with the Standing Rules of the Senate) governing
the procedure of such committee. It provides also that the rules of each
committee shall be published in the Congressional Record not later
than March 1 of each year, except that if any such committee is established
on or after February 1 of a year, the rules of that committee during the
year of establishment shall be published in the Record within 60
days. An amendment to a committee's rules shall be published in the Record
not later than 30 days after the adoption of the amendment.
Committees as a rule have regular meeting days, but they may meet
at the call of their chairmen or upon the request of a majority at other
times. At these meetings matters on the committee calendar are usually
the order of business, but any matter within the committee's jurisdiction
may be considered--for example, an investigation of an agency of the Government
over which the committee has jurisdiction, or a hearing at which an official
discusses policies and operations of his agency.
Once a bill has been introduced and has been referred by the Presiding
Officer with the advice of the Parliamentarian, the clerk of the committee
enters it upon the committee's Calendar of Business. Any committee may
refer its pending bills to its subcommittees for study and reports thereon.
Most of the committees have standing subcommittees, and frequently ad hoc
subcommittees are appointed to study and report on particular pieces of
legislation or to make a study of a certain subject.
Committees or subcommittees generally hold hearings on all major
or controversial legislation before drafting the proposal into a final
form for reporting to the Senate. The length of hearings and the number
of witnesses testifying vary, depending upon the time available, the number
of witnesses wanting to be heard, the desires of the committee to hear
witnesses, etc. Recommendations of the Administration, in conjunction with
the Office of Management and Budget, are sought by the committees on nearly
all major legislation, but they are in no way obligated to accept such
recommendations.
For example, the Department of Agriculture's Office of Governmental
and Public Affairs, providing liaison between the department and the Congress,
would be addressed on a bill relating to inspection of livestock, meat,
and agricultural products, and the Office of Congressional Affairs of the
General Services Administration would be asked to comment on proposed legislation
affecting small business, disadvantaged business, and related subcontracting
programs. The responses are often used in support of or against matters
pending before the Senate by being quoted on the floor or being inserted
in the Record by Senators during debate.
A subcommittee makes reports to its full committee, and the latter
may adopt such reports without change, amend them in any way it desires,
reject them, or adopt an entirely different report.
At a committee's "mark up" session, usually held just prior
to reporting a bill or resolution back to the full Senate, the committee
makes its final decisions about the content and form of the measure. The
full committee then may report it to the Senate favorably with or without
amendments, submit an adverse report thereon, or vote not to report on
anything.
The measure can be reported with committee amendments which may (a)
insert, (b) strike, (c) strike part of the bill and insert other language,
or (d) strike the entire text and insert a complete substitute, thereby
rejecting in toto the language of the measure as it was referred to, considered
by, and reported by the Senate committee. The desired changes in the measure
are indicated in the reprinted measure by use of italic type for additions
and line-type for strike-outs, in contrast to the original introduced form
of the measure which is printed in roman type.
Included may be additions, corrections, or modifications to the preamble
of a resolution--the part(s) of a measure prefaced by the word "Whereas,"
which precedes the resolving clause. These are voted on after passage or
adoption of the measure. Such clauses, which are introductory statements
declaring the reasons for and the intent of the legislation, if amended,
would reflect changes or modifications contained in the text of the measure.
Also, the title may be amended.
Committees need not act on all bills referred to them. Under the
Senate's rules, a Senator may enter a motion to discharge a committee from
the further consideration of any bill, but this is rarely done. By unanimous
consent, some bills are discharged from one committee and sent to another.
If a motion to discharge is agreed to, the bill is thereby taken out of
the jurisdiction of that committee and placed on the Senate Calendar of
Business. It may subsequently be referred to another committee.
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