No vote of a member without the bar counted.

name was called, must have been upon the floor of the hall, and not outside of any of the doors leading into it.]

"Upon a division and count of the House on any question, no member without the bar shall be counted."-Rule 30.

How bills are introduced.

Revenue bills.

Bills on leave.

Bills on leave,

when and how

BILLS.

(See also PRIVATE BILLS AND PRIVATE BUSINESS.) Every bill shall be introduced on the report of a committee, or by motion for leave-Rule 115-or upon the report of the Court of Claims.-(Stat. at Large, Vol. X, pp. 613, 614.)

"All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments, as on other bills."-Const., 1, 7, 10.

"In the case of a bill on leave, at least one day's notice shall be given of the motion in the House, or by filing a memorandum thereof with the Clerk, and having it entered on the Journal; and the motion shall be made and the bill introduced, if leave is given, when resolutions are called for; such motion, or the bill when introduced, may be committed.” -Rule 115.

"All the States and Territories shall be called for bills on introduced. leave and resolutions on each alternate Monday during each session of Congress; and, if necessary to secure the object on said days, all resolutions which shall give rise to debate shall lie over for discussion, under the rules of the House already established; and the whole of said days shall be appropriated to bills on leave and resolutions, until all the States and Territories are called through.-February 6, 1838. And the Speaker shall first call the States and Territories for bills on leave; and all bills so introduced during the first hour after the Journal is read shall be referred, without debate, to their appropriate committees: Provided, however, That a bill so introduced and referred shall not be brought back into the House upon a motion to reconsider."Rule 130.

[The notice above referred to is rarely given in the House (it being in order to give it there only when resolutions are

in order), but is usually given to the Clerk by sending to him

a written memorandum in this form: "Mr. gives notice Form of notice. that to-morrow, or on some subsequent day, he will ask leave

appear in news

for leave.

practice of intro

leave.

to introduce a bill (here insert its title)." If the member To have notice desires his notice to appear in the newspaper report of the paper. proceedings of the House, he should furnish the reporter of such paper with a copy of the memorandum furnished the Clerk. Having given his notice, it is then in order, on any subsequent day, when bills on leave and resolutions are being When to move called for, and when his particular State is called, to move for leave to introduce his bill. The practice of introducing Objections to the bills on leave, it may be remarked, however, does not facili-ducing bills on tate business. If, instead of waiting for an opportunity to introduce his bill on leave, the member would file his petition, or whatever other matter he may have in favor of the proposed legislation, and have it referred to the appropriate committee, as he may do on any day under Rule 131 (see PETITIONS), he will thus have the subject before them, and will get a bill reported as speedily as if it had been originally referred. Besides, the bill thus reported comes before the House unencumbered with amendments, as is not likely to be the case with a bill previously referred. These suggestions, of course, do not apply to cases where the immediate passage of a bill without the intervention of a committee is sought for, or where it is desirable to refer it to a select committee.]

For information in regard to bills reported from a com- Bills mittee, see COMMITTEES.

reported

from committees.

reported from Court of Claims.

have three read

So in regard to bills reported from and to be referred to Bills the Court of Claims.-See CLAIMS, COURT OF. "Every bill shall receive three several readings in the Every bill shall House previous to its passage; and bills shall be dispatched ings. in order as they were introduced, unless where the House shall direct otherwise; but no bill shall be twice read on the same day without special order of the house."—Rule 116. [The "special order" here referred to is generally assumed to have been given, for, unless objection is made, immediately after the bill is read a first time, the Speaker announces “the

Objection first reading.

second reading of the bill," and it thereupon receives its second reading.]

after The first reading of a bill shall be for information, and, if opposition be made to it, the question shall be: "Shall this bill be rejected?"-Rule 117. And this question is debatable.-Journal, 2, 32, p. 152. But "if no opposition be made, or if the question to reject be negatived, the bill shall go to Second reading. its second reading without a question."-Rule 117.

Usually read by their title.

[The three readings of a bill are usually by the title, the reading throughout usually taking place in Committee of the Whole; but where there is no commitment, it then takes place whenever it is proposed to put the bill on its passage. Right of a mem- It is the undoubted right, however, of any member to have a throughout. bill read throughout at every stage of its progress through the house.-See READING OF PAPERS.]

ber to have read

After reading.

66

second 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.

Open to debate,

&c.

Commitment.

Amendment.

Enacting words may be stricken out.

Engrossment

and third read

ing.

[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 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.)]

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

Senate bills.

with a preamble.

[Where the bill has a preamble, although there is no rule, In case of a bill and indeed 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.]

ing.

[After the third reading of a bill, the question which next After third readarises, in course, is, "Shall the bill pass ?" At this stage the bill is again open to debate, but is not amendable; it Debate. may, however, under the 124th rule, be recommitted at any Recommitment. time before passage.-(See RECOMMIT, MOTION TO.)]

[The bill having passed, and the title having been read, After passage.

the Speaker states, "If there be no objection this will remain

the title of the bill." The title, however, is subject to amend- Title.

ment, and unless the previous question is ordered on it, is

also debatable.]

posed of.

[After the title is disposed of, it is usual for the member After title dishaving 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,

sider and lie.

it is not uncommon to make the motion "to reconsider and Motion to reconlie" at every stage of the bill.]

and taken to the

The bill is then, as required by Rule 127,"certified by Certified by Clerk the Clerk, notifying the day of its passage at the foot there- Senate. of," 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 Not to be taken sent for concurrence to the other on either of the last three last three days of 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

session.

To be on paper, when on passage

After the return

"While bills are on their passage between the two houses, between the two they shall be on paper, and under the signature of the Secrehouses. tary or Clerk of each house respectively."-Joint Rule 5. [After the bill has been acted on by the Senate, it is with mend brought back to the House by the Secretary of the Senate, together with a report of their action thereon. If it has passed with amendment, it is placed on the Speaker's table, to be taken up in its order under the 54th rule.

of, from Senate

ment.

Action on Senate amendment to.

is

When the Senate amendment agreed to.

Amendments be

tween houses.

the

After passage by

both houses, to

parchment.

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 a bill shall have passed both houses, it shall be be enrolled on 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.

When enrolled,

"When bills are enrolled, they shall be examined by a to be examined. 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.)