Floor Consideration of Conference Reports in the House

Publication Date: May 2003

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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When a committee of conference approves its report, the next step in the legislative process is for the report, along with a joint explanatory statement of the managers, to be presented to the House and Senate for consideration. A conference report must be filed and considered in one chamber at a time, when a chamber is in possession of the official conference papers. The high privilege accorded to conference reports in the House under Rule XXII, clause 7(a) allows them to be presented or filed at almost any time the House is in session, provided that it is in possession of the conference papers. Exceptions to this procedure include a time when the Journal is being read, during a quorum call, or when the House is conducting a record or division vote. This privilege applies in the House, so that conference reports may not be filed while the chamber is resolved into Committee of the Whole. For more information on legislative process, see
[http://www.crs.gov/products/guides/guidehome.shtml].