[House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House]
[Chapter 30. Messages Between the Houses]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
CHAPTER 30
MESSAGES BETWEEN THE HOUSES
HOUSE PRACTICE
Sec. 1. In General; Uses
Sec. 2. Reception of Messages
Sec. 3. Messages Relating to Bills
Sec. 4. Errors; Lost Documents
Research References
5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 6590-6662
8 Cannon Sec. Sec. 3333-3353
Deschler-Brown Ch 32 Sec. Sec. 1, 2
Manual Sec. Sec. 330, 560-569, 873, 874
Sec. 1 . In General; Uses
The House of Representatives and the Senate communicate and
coordinate their activities by sending formal messages to each other.
These messages between the two Houses constitute the sole source of
official information regarding actions taken by the other House. 8
Cannon Sec. Sec. 3342, 3343. The Chair does not take public notice of
the proceedings of the Senate unless they are formally brought to the
attention of the House by message from the Senate. Deschler-Brown Ch
32 Sec. 2.14.
Messages between the House and Senate are used for a variety of
legislative purposes:
To indicate the final disposition by one House of a measure
originating in the other.
To convey the official papers accompanying a measure from one
House to the other.
To transmit the action of one House on an amendment of the
other.
To request the return of a measure.
To convey information relating to a committee of conference
and a report relating thereto.
To transmit information relating to the election of an officer
and other organizational matters.
To indicate House or Senate action on a vetoed measure.
To convey information or documents relating to an impeachment
proceeding or electoral count.
To dispose of questions regarding a breach of privilege by one
House against the other.
Such messages also have been used on rare occasions to transmit or
exchange confidential information between the two Houses. 5 Hinds
Sec. 5250.
The Clerk or an employee of the Clerk's office delivers the
messages of the House to the Senate. Senate messages are delivered to
the House by the Secretary of the Senate or an employee of the
Secretary's office. 5 Hinds Sec. 6592.
Sec. 2 . Reception of Messages
The refusal of one House to receive a message from the other is a
breach of the practice of comity between the two Houses. Deschler-
Brown Ch 32 Sec. 1.3. The receipt of a message from the Senate is a
highly privileged matter and may interrupt the consideration of a
bill, even though the previous question has been ordered thereon.
Deschler-Brown Ch 32 Sec. 1.4; 5 Hinds Sec. 6602. Messages are
received during debate, the Member having the floor yielding at the
request of the Speaker. Manual Sec. 561. Such a message may be
received in the absence of a quorum and pending a motion for a call of
the House. Manual Sec. 562; 8 Cannon Sec. 3339. The Speaker may
receive the message even before the approval of the Journal. Manual
Sec. 562.
A message from the Senate may not be received when the House is in
the Committee of the Whole, but the Committee may rise (formally or
informally) to permit the receipt of such messages. Manual Sec. 564.
Whereas it was formerly the custom to transmit messages only when
both Houses were sitting (5 Hinds Sec. Sec. 6601, 6602), the present
practice permits the receipt of messages regardless of whether the
other House is in session (8 Cannon Sec. 3338). Clause 2(h) of rule II
permits the receipt by the Clerk of messages from the President or
Senate notwithstanding the recess or adjournment of the House.
Sec. 3 . Messages Relating to Bills
Generally
The House ordinarily does not take formal notice of Senate action
on bills until such action has been communicated in the normal
parliamentary manner. 3 Hinds Sec. 2656; Manual Sec. 528a. The House
may order certain actions contingent upon future communication from
the Senate. 112-1, Apr. 13, 2011, p 5873; 104-2, Mar. 28, 1996, pp
6873, 6874; 100-1, Dec. 11, 1987, p 35049.
Messages from the Senate concerning House bills with Senate
amendments or Senate bills that require action by the Committee of the
Whole go to the Speaker's table and may be referred to the appropriate
standing committees in the same manner as public bills introduced in
the House. Manual Sec. 873. Those which do not require consideration
in the Committee of the Whole may be laid before the House for
consideration pursuant to clause 2 of rule XIV. Manual Sec. 874; see
Senate Bills; Amendments Between the Houses.
Senate messages giving notice of measures passed or approved are
entered in the Journal and published in the Congressional Record.
Manual Sec. 815. At times, the Senate directs the Secretary to
transmit a message conveying rejection of a measure to satisfy a House
contingency. 112-1, H. Con. Res. 94, Dec. 17, 2011, pp 21332, 21333.
Requests for the Return of a Bill
A message from the Senate requesting that the House return a bill
must be presented to the House for consideration. Deschler-Brown Ch 32
Sec. 2.9. A request of the Senate for the return of a bill to correct
an error is treated as privileged in the House and may be disposed of
by unanimous consent or by motion. Manual Sec. 565. When a request of
the Senate for the return of a bill is treated as privileged, the
Chair may immediately put the question on the request without debate.
Deschler-Brown Ch 32 Sec. 2.8. The House may by unanimous consent
agree to a request of the Senate for the return of a Senate bill even
where the bill has been referred to a House committee. Deschler-Brown
Ch 32 Sec. 2.2. The House by unanimous consent agreed to a request
from the Senate for the return of a Senate bill, to the end that the
Senate effect a specified (substantive) change in its text. Manual
Sec. 565. For a discussion of reconsideration of a vote, see
Reconsideration.
A request of the House for return of a bill messaged to the Senate
is not privileged where no error is involved, as it cannot be a
substitute for reconsideration.
Sec. 4 . Errors; Lost Documents
A proposition to correct an error in a message by one House to the
other presents a question of privilege. 3 Hinds Sec. 2613. One House
may correct an error in its message to the other, the receiving House
concurring in the correction. 5 Hinds Sec. 6607. If the Clerk of the
House or Secretary of the Senate commits an error in delivering a
messaged document, such officer may be directed to correct it. In one
instance, where the Secretary had delivered only one of two Senate
amendments to a House bill, the mistake was not discovered until after
the House had disagreed to the Senate amendment. The Senate then
directed the Secretary to correct the mistake, the correction was
received, and the House acted on the two amendments de novo. 5 Hinds
Sec. 6590. In another instance, where a figure was changed in the
enrolling process in the Senate after the House had concurred in a
Senate amendment and cleared the measure for the President, a
concurrent resolution ratifying such enrollment was agreed to by the
Senate (but not taken up in the House). 109-2, S. Con. Res. 80, Feb.
8, 2006, pp 1208, 1209.
Where an error is discovered in an enrollment after it has been
signed and laid before the House, a concurrent resolution rescinding
the signature and correcting the error is prepared. 112-2, Dec. 19,
2012, p__. Where an official document intended for delivery to the
Senate is lost and cannot be retrieved, the preparation of official
duplicates thereof may be provided for pursuant to concurrent
resolution. Such resolutions are privileged for consideration. In such
cases the Clerk attests to the authenticity of an existing printed
copy or duplicate original. Manual Sec. 704.