In addition to time limitations that may be imposed by special rules governing consideration of bills, clause 8 of Rule XVIII outlines the manner in which the time for debate may be limited — either for tactical advantage or because all parties agree that enough debate has occurred.
Such limits are proposed by a Member, usually the manager of the bill, asking unanimous consent that all time on an amendment and all amendments thereto be limited to a specified amount of time.
A Member may ask that all debate on an amendment or section and all amendments thereto end at a certain time. It is advisable for Members to have their amendments printed in the Congressional Record where they will be numbered accordingly before their consideration. There are occasions in which a special rule governing a bill will require amendments to be printed in the Congressional Record prior to their consideration.
Normally, however, such special rules, if open, will provide preferential treatment for pre-printed amendments. There is a special box for such amendments on the lower tier of the rostrum. If the Member submits an amendment for printing, it must be signed in the upper right-hand corner. Facsimile copies are not acceptable. Once printed in the Congressional Record , the Member is assured five minutes to speak on the amendment under an open rule, as will one opponent, even if a time limit is imposed by the Committee of the Whole.
The time for consideration of amendments may be limited overall by a rule, or the rule may specify time limits for each amendment made in order. All those in favor will say aye. Those opposed will say no. Typically, if any Member is dissatisfied with the outcome of the voice vote, he or she may demand a recorded vote on the amendment. Under this little-used procedure, the Chair will first ask those in favor to rise, then those opposed.
The Chair will count the Members and announce the total. If the Member is still unsatisfied with the outcome, a record vote may be requested. In order to obtain a record vote in the Committee of the Whole, twenty-five Members must rise to be counted by the Chair. As noted earlier, a point of no quorum can be made pending the request for a record vote in order to get more Members to the Floor to support the request. Chairman or Madam Chairman , I request a record vote and, pending that, I make a point of order that a quorum is not present.
Debate is guided by the Sponsoring Committee and time is divided equally between proponents and opponents. The Committee decides how much time to allot to each person. Amendments must be germane to the subject of a bill - no riders are allowed. The bill is reported back to the House to itself and is voted on. A quorum call is a vote to make sure that there are enough members present to have a final vote. If there is not a quorum, the House will adjourn or will send the Sergeant at Arms out to round up missing members.
Senate: debate is unlimited unless cloture is invoked. Members can speak as long as they want and amendments need not be germane - riders are often offered. Entire bills can therefore be offered as amendments to other bills. Unless cloture is invoked, Senators can use a filibuster to defeat a measure by "talking it to death. The Bill Becomes A Law Once a bill is signed by the President or his veto is overridden by both houses it becomes a law and is assigned an official number.
The Union Calendar - A list of all bills that address money and may be considered by the House of Representatives. Generally, bills contained in the Union Calendar can be categorized as appropriations bills or bills raising revenue.
The House Calendar - A list of all the public bills that do not address money and maybe considered by the House of Representatives. The Corrections Calendar - A list of bills selected by the Speaker of the House in consultation with the Minority leader that will be considered in the House and debated for one hour.
Generally, bills are selected because they focus on changing laws, rules and regulations that are judged to be outdated or unnecessary. The Private Calendar - A list of all the private bills that are to be considered by the House. It is called on the first and third Tuesday of every month.
Bills - A legislative proposal that if passed by both the House and the Senate and approved by the President becomes law. Each bill is assigned a bill number. HR denotes bills that originate in the House and S denotes bills that originate in the Senate.
Private Bill - A bill that is introduced on behalf of a specific individual that if it is enacted into law only affects the specific person or organization the bill concerns.
Often, private bills address immigration or naturalization issues. Simple Resolution - A type of legislation designated by H Res or S Res that is used primarily to express the sense of the chamber where it is introduced or passed.
It only has the force of the chamber passing the resolution. A simple resolution is not signed by the President and cannot become Public Law. Concurrent Resolutions - A type of legislation designated by H Con Res or S Con Res that is often used to express the sense of both chambers, to set annual budget or to fix adjournment dates.
Concurrent resolutions are not signed by the President and therefore do not hold the weight of law. Calendar Wednesday - A procedure in the House of Representatives during which each standing committees may bring up for consideration any bill that has been reported on the floor on or before the previous day.
The procedure also limits debate for each subject matter to two hours. Cloture - A motion generally used in the Senate to end a filibuster. If cloture is invoked further debate is limited to 30 hours, it is not a vote on the passage of the piece of legislation.
Committee of The Whole - A committee including all members of the House. It allows bills and resolutions to be considered without adhering to all the formal rules of a House session, such as needing a quorum of All measures on the Union Calendar must be considered first by the Committee of the Whole. Co-Sponsor - A member or members that add his or her name formally in support of another members bill.
In the House a member can become a co-sponsor of a bill at any point up to the time the last authorized committee considers it. In the Senate a member can become a co-sponsor of a bill anytime before the vote takes place on the bill.
The speaking time available to each MP depends on the type of debate. While the House arranges its affairs and draws up its agenda, the President of the House routinely announces how much speaking time MPs will be granted in a plenary debate. In a thirty-members debate, for instance, speaking time is generally limited to three minutes. The Presidium determines beforehand how much speaking time will be designated to each parliamentary group for the budget debates.
Large groups are permitted longer speaking time than small ones. Speaking time is earmarked for the entirety of every budget debate. Each parliamentary group may decide to spend more of their total alloted speaking time on a specific budget bill, for example the budget for the Ministry of Security and Justice, leaving them less speaking time available for other budget bills.
MPs are also free to first discuss a budget bill in a committee meeting. The committee sets the permitted speaking time for such meetings during the procedural meeting beforehand. Another of the most common types of meetings in the House of Representatives is committee debates on general policy, which comprises a meeting of a specialised committee. These committees also allocate speaking time to each parliamentary group during their procedural meeting.
In the event of fewer speakers, the chairperson may enforce speaking time limits less rigidly. If the committee elects to conclude the debate in the Plenary Hall, every parliamentary group will have two minutes of speaking time to present motions. Speaking time is limited beforehand to a certain number of minutes, but does not include interruptions and answers to interruptions.
This means that a debate can continue for a much longer time than estimated beforehand.
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