[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 75 (Thursday, June 11, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H4488-H4491]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1119
                    SALES INCENTIVE COMPENSATION ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ewing). Pursuant to House Resolution 461 
and rule XXIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union for further consideration of the 
bill, H.R. 2888.

                              {time}  1120


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union for the further consideration of 
the bill (H.R. 2888) to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to 
exempt from the minimum wage recordkeeping and overtime compensation 
requirement certain specialized employees, with Mr. Wicker, Chairman 
pro tempore, in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. When the Committee of the Whole rose on the 
legislative day of Wednesday, June 10, 1998, a request for a recorded 
vote on Amendment No. 2 by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens) had 
been postponed.
  Pursuant to the order of the House of that day, no further debate or 
amendments to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute are 
in order.


                     Amendment Offered by Mr. Owens

  The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. The unfinished business is the demand for a 
recorded vote on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Owens), on which further proceedings were postponed and on which 
the noes prevailed by a voice vote.
  The Clerk will redesignate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment Offered by Mr. Owens:
       Page 6, line 9, strike the period, quotation marks, and the 
     period following and insert a semicolon and insert after line 
     9 the following:

     except that an employer may not require an employee who is 
     exempt from overtime payment under this paragraph to work any 
     hours in excess of 40 in any workweek or 8 in any day unless 
     the employee gives the employee's consent, voluntarily and 
     not as a condition of employment, to perform such work.''.


                             Recorded Vote

  The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. A recorded vote has been demanded.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 181, 
noes 246, not voting 6, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 227]

                               AYES--181

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Baesler
     Baldacci
     Barcia
     Barrett (WI)
     Becerra
     Bentsen
     Berry
     Bishop
     Blagojevich
     Blumenauer
     Bonior
     Borski
     Boucher
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (CA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Capps
     Cardin
     Carson
     Clay

[[Page H4489]]


     Clayton
     Clement
     Clyburn
     Conyers
     Costello
     Coyne
     Cummings
     Danner
     Davis (IL)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Deutsch
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Dixon
     Doggett
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Engel
     English
     Eshoo
     Evans
     Fattah
     Fazio
     Filner
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Frost
     Furse
     Gejdenson
     Gephardt
     Gordon
     Green
     Gutierrez
     Hall (OH)
     Harman
     Hastings (FL)
     Hefner
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Holden
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (MA)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kennelly
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kleczka
     Klink
     Kucinich
     LaFalce
     Lampson
     Lantos
     Lee
     Levin
     Lipinski
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Luther
     Maloney (CT)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manton
     Markey
     Martinez
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHale
     McIntyre
     McKinney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (CA)
     Minge
     Mink
     Moakley
     Mollohan
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Neal
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Peterson (MN)
     Pomeroy
     Poshard
     Price (NC)
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Rivers
     Rodriguez
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Sabo
     Sanchez
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Sawyer
     Schumer
     Scott
     Serrano
     Sherman
     Skaggs
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith, Adam
     Snyder
     Spratt
     Stabenow
     Stark
     Stokes
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Thompson
     Thurman
     Tierney
     Torres
     Towns
     Turner
     Velazquez
     Vento
     Visclosky
     Waters
     Watt (NC)
     Waxman
     Wexler
     Weygand
     Wise
     Woolsey
     Wynn
     Yates

                               NOES--246

     Aderholt
     Andrews
     Archer
     Armey
     Bachus
     Baker
     Ballenger
     Barr
     Barrett (NE)
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Bateman
     Bereuter
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bliley
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bono
     Boswell
     Brady (TX)
     Bryant
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Canady
     Cannon
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Chenoweth
     Christensen
     Coble
     Coburn
     Collins
     Combest
     Condit
     Cook
     Cooksey
     Cox
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crapo
     Cubin
     Cunningham
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (VA)
     Deal
     DeLay
     Diaz-Balart
     Dickey
     Dooley
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     Ensign
     Everett
     Ewing
     Fawell
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Fowler
     Fox
     Franks (NJ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gekas
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Goodling
     Goss
     Graham
     Granger
     Greenwood
     Gutknecht
     Hall (TX)
     Hamilton
     Hansen
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Herger
     Hill
     Hilleary
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Horn
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inglis
     Istook
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (WI)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kim
     Kind (WI)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Klug
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     LaHood
     Largent
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lazio
     Leach
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Livingston
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Manzullo
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDade
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntosh
     McKeon
     Metcalf
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Moran (KS)
     Morella
     Myrick
     Nethercutt
     Neumann
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Oxley
     Packard
     Pappas
     Parker
     Paul
     Paxon
     Pease
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pickett
     Pitts
     Pombo
     Porter
     Portman
     Pryce (OH)
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Redmond
     Regula
     Riggs
     Riley
     Roemer
     Rogan
     Rogers
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Roukema
     Royce
     Ryun
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Saxton
     Scarborough
     Schaefer, Dan
     Schaffer, Bob
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Sisisky
     Skeen
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (OR)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith, Linda
     Snowbarger
     Solomon
     Souder
     Spence
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Stump
     Sununu
     Talent
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Tauzin
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Thune
     Tiahrt
     Traficant
     Upton
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Watkins
     Watts (OK)
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     White
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                             NOT VOTING--6

     Berman
     Boyd
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Gonzalez
     Lewis (GA)

                              {time}  1138

  So the amendment was rejected.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The CHAIRMAN pro tempore (Mr. Wicker). There will be no further 
amendments.
  The question is on the committee amendment in the nature of a 
substitute, as amended.
  The committee amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended, 
was agreed to.
  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Chairman, this Member rises today, as a co-sponsor 
in support of H.R. 2888, ``The Sales Incentive Compensation Act.'' This 
bill would amend the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act by providing an 
exemption from overtime and minimum wage laws for certain types of 
employees. These employees are defined in this bill as those who work 
within or inside an employer's establishment and are engaged in selling 
to non-retail customers by using forms of electronic commerce such as 
the telephone, fax, and/or the computer.
  Under the current Fair Labor and Standards Act, there is a provision 
which allows an exemption from the overtime and minimum wage 
requirements for certain retail sales' employees. This exemption does 
not currently apply to wholesale establishments.
  The original intent behind this distinctive treatment between 
wholesalers and retailers was due to the nature of the retail field. In 
1938, when the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed, retail business 
consisted of employees involved in sales outside the place of business. 
Employees involved in sales physically went to the consumer for a 
transaction.
  Since 1938, American society and the world for that matter have 
undergone a technological transformation. Various forms of electronic 
communication have altered the manner in which business is conducted. 
Whether it is faxes, telemarketing, E-mail or other types of electronic 
commerce, a bulk of sales transactions are now performed from the 
office. Electronic communication has reduced the distinction of duties 
between those involved in wholesale and retail sales transactions.
  This Member supports H.R. 2888 because it provides consistency for 
small businesses.
  It is a common principle of governing that people or businesses that 
are similarly situated should be treated in a similar manner. Due to 
the electronic transformation that has transpired over the last forty 
years, retailers and ``inside sales'' employee wholesalers are 
similarly situated and as a result should be treated consistently. H.R. 
2888 would grant this consistent treatment by allowing for an overtime 
and minimum wage exemption for those ``inside sales'' employees whether 
they are involved in retail, service, or wholesale establishments.
  This Member would ask his colleagues to support H.R. 2888.
  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this act which cuts 
the pay of sales jobs, H.R. 2888. This legislation is being promoted as 
a modernization, by sidestepping the Fair Labor Standards Act which 
requires overtime pay and establishes the 40 hour work week. The net 
effect of this legislation actually shifts business risk from employers 
to employees and results in decreased benefits for workers. When 
workers lose benefits, workers lose choice!
  The Sales Incentive Compensation Act has been justified by its 
proponents on the basis that so-called outside sales persons are exempt 
from overtime. Therefore, inside sales persons should be exempt as 
well, in an effort to level the playing field. However, outside sales 
persons exemption is justified upon time spent traveling. Certainly, 
this isn't applicable to inside sales persons. Technology, some argue, 
means employers have relocated the outside sales force inside, where 
they are more efficient. However, workers should be able to benefit 
from this increased technology. The fact that more sales persons are 
able to work inside and fewer must work outside is simply not 
justification for eliminating overtime or paying them less in premium 
overtime compensation.
  The Fair Labor Standards Act designed the 40 hour work week and the 
time-and-a-half requirement to protect workers from excessively long 
hours, to allow them greater freedom for personal endeavors, and to 
ensure that workers who are required to work extra hours are fairly 
compensated. Now, employers are fighting this federal, time-honored 
workplace requirement, as they have in the past, as if it's in the 
interest of employees. Let's allow workers speak for themselves; give 
them the pay and let them make the choices about time off. The 
flexibility that employers want already exists, they can give workers 
time off whenever it suits them.
  Proponents of this bill argue that salespersons should be allowed to 
work longer hours to perform their jobs more efficiently, in order to 
make more money. However, the time-and-a-half requirement of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act was not intended as a means to reward or enrich 
workers; rather it was regarded as a penalty of required premium 
payment by imposed upon employers who insisted on subjecting their 
employees to work

[[Page H4490]]

weeks in excess of the 40 hour standard. H.R. 2888 exempts employees 
from overtime pay protection if they earn $16,078 a year in either 
hourly wages or as a salary, and an additional $6,431 annually in 
commissions.
  Under this legislation, an employee who earns these threshold amounts 
would not be entitled to overtime pay, or even additional wages for 
hours worked. This bill provides Congressional endorsement of employers 
action which would demand more hours from employees by taking away the 
benefit of premium overtime pay currently required by law. In what way 
is this benefitting workers? The simple answer is, it does not.
  The Sales Incentive Compensation Act is simply a thinly veiled scheme 
for employers to boost their profits by increasing sales while 
simultaneously decreasing benefits to their employees, who are actually 
working to generate profits. The overall effect of this legislation 
would be to shift business risk form employers to employees. Employees 
who work long hours but are unable to make significant sales to boost 
their own commissions will receive little or no additional pay for the 
extra hours they work.
  H.R. 2888 just doesn't make good sense, because it upsets the balance 
and worker benefits which have been in place for more than sixty years. 
At a time in our economic history when managers are receiving 
exorbitant compensation and the wage earner is receiving a reduction in 
power and reward, this legislation is a step backwards. The disparity 
in wages and compensation is growing. H.R. 2888 increases the wage gap, 
with wage workers as the losers. I strongly urge my colleagues to join 
me in opposing the Sales Incentive Compensation Act.
  Mr. ROEMER. Mr. Chairman, I would like to voice my support for H.R. 
2888, The Sales Incentive Compensation Act. This bill is a bipartisan, 
narrowly targeted approach to helping people in a career that makes up 
less than one percent of the total workforce. It provides relief for 
inside sales employees who currently are restricted from reaching their 
full earning potential by a forty year old provision of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act.
  The benefits proposed in this bill are already afforded to 
traditional outside sales employees. In the past, you had to drive 
around your sales territory to personally check on your customers, see 
if they needed additional product, and offer technical assistance. 
Today, thanks to advancements in communications technology, a sales 
employee can remain in the office and be in continual contact with all 
of his or her customers. This is particularly evident in the burgeoning 
computer and technology sectors, where sales and technical support are 
frequently combined into one customer service position. These highly 
trained people have a group of regular clients to whom they both sell 
product, and provide technical support and assistance.
  This bill would allow them to put in the extra time to earn 
additional commissions that traditional sales employees are already 
allowed to do. It explicitly details their need to have a regular 
clientele, not initiate sales contacts, and have extensive knowledge of 
the products they sell. Fees that this legislation could effect 
telemarketers or route sales drivers have already been addressed in 
Committee, and provisions are in place that categorically exempt these 
jobs from the provisions of the bill.
  Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to give their full support to this 
intelligent, bipartisan bill that has all the necessary protections, 
and allows a small group of professionals to make more money than the 
law currently allows. Thank you for you support for the Sales Incentive 
Compensation Act.
  The CHAIRMAN pro tempore. Under the rule, the Committee rises.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. 
Bereuter) having assumed the chair, Mr. Wicker, Chairman pro tempore of 
the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, reported 
that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 
2888) to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exempt from the 
minimum wage recordkeeping and overtime compensation requirements 
certain specialized employees, pursuant to House Resolution 461, he 
reported the bill back to the House with an amendment adopted by the 
Committee of the Whole.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the previous question is 
ordered.
  Is a separate vote demanded on any amendment to the committee 
amendment in the nature of a substitute adopted by the Committee of the 
Whole? If not, the question is on the amendment.
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third 
reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 261, 
noes 165, not voting 7, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 228]

                               AYES--261

     Aderholt
     Andrews
     Archer
     Armey
     Bachus
     Baker
     Ballenger
     Barr
     Barrett (NE)
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Bateman
     Bentsen
     Bereuter
     Bilbray
     Bilirakis
     Bishop
     Bliley
     Blunt
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Boswell
     Brady (TX)
     Bryant
     Bunning
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Campbell
     Canady
     Cannon
     Capps
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Chenoweth
     Christensen
     Clement
     Coble
     Coburn
     Collins
     Combest
     Condit
     Cook
     Cooksey
     Cox
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crapo
     Cubin
     Cunningham
     Danner
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (VA)
     Deal
     DeLay
     Dickey
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doolittle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     Ensign
     Everett
     Ewing
     Fawell
     Foley
     Forbes
     Fossella
     Fowler
     Fox
     Franks (NJ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gekas
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Goodling
     Gordon
     Goss
     Graham
     Granger
     Greenwood
     Gutknecht
     Hall (TX)
     Hansen
     Harman
     Hastert
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Herger
     Hill
     Hilleary
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Horn
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inglis
     Istook
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (WI)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones
     Kasich
     Kelly
     Kim
     Kind (WI)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Klug
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     LaHood
     Largent
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Lazio
     Leach
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     Livingston
     LoBiondo
     Lucas
     Luther
     Manzullo
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntosh
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     Metcalf
     Mica
     Miller (FL)
     Minge
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Morella
     Myrick
     Nethercutt
     Neumann
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Oxley
     Packard
     Pappas
     Parker
     Paul
     Paxon
     Pease
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pickett
     Pitts
     Pombo
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Ramstad
     Redmond
     Regula
     Riggs
     Riley
     Rivers
     Roemer
     Rogan
     Rogers
     Rohrabacher
     Roukema
     Royce
     Ryun
     Salmon
     Sanford
     Saxton
     Scarborough
     Schaefer, Dan
     Schaffer, Bob
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Sisisky
     Skeen
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (OR)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith, Linda
     Snowbarger
     Solomon
     Souder
     Spence
     Spratt
     Stabenow
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Stump
     Sununu
     Talent
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Tauzin
     Taylor (NC)
     Thomas
     Thornberry
     Thune
     Thurman
     Tiahrt
     Traficant
     Turner
     Upton
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Watkins
     Watts (OK)
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     White
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wolf
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                               NOES--165

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Allen
     Baesler
     Baldacci
     Barcia
     Barrett (WI)
     Becerra
     Berry
     Blagojevich
     Blumenauer
     Boehlert
     Bonior
     Bono
     Borski
     Boucher
     Brady (PA)
     Brown (CA)
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Cardin
     Carson
     Clay
     Clayton
     Clyburn
     Conyers
     Costello
     Coyne
     Cummings
     Davis (IL)
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     Deutsch
     Diaz-Balart
     Dicks
     Dingell
     Dixon
     Doyle
     Edwards
     Engel
     English
     Eshoo
     Evans
     Fattah
     Fazio
     Filner
     Ford
     Frank (MA)
     Frost
     Furse
     Gejdenson
     Gephardt
     Gilman
     Green
     Gutierrez
     Hall (OH)
     Hamilton
     Hastings (FL)
     Hefner
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Hooley
     Hoyer
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Johnson, E. B.
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Kennedy (MA)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kennelly
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kleczka
     Klink
     Kucinich
     LaFalce
     Lampson
     Lantos
     Lee
     Levin
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Maloney (CT)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manton
     Markey
     Martinez
     Mascara
     Matsui
     McDade
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHale
     McKinney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (CA)
     Mink
     Moakley
     Mollohan
     Murtha
     Nadler
     Neal
     Oberstar

[[Page H4491]]


     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Owens
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Pomeroy
     Poshard
     Rahall
     Rangel
     Reyes
     Rodriguez
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Rothman
     Roybal-Allard
     Rush
     Sabo
     Sanchez
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Sawyer
     Schumer
     Scott
     Serrano
     Skaggs
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith, Adam
     Snyder
     Stark
     Stokes
     Strickland
     Stupak
     Taylor (MS)
     Thompson
     Tierney
     Torres
     Towns
     Velazquez
     Vento
     Visclosky
     Waters
     Watt (NC)
     Waxman
     Wexler
     Weygand
     Wise
     Woolsey
     Wynn
     Yates

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Berman
     Boyd
     Etheridge
     Farr
     Gonzalez
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)

                              {time}  1202

  Mr. HINOJOSA and Mr. SPRATT changed their vote from ``no'' to 
``aye.''
  So the bill was passed.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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