[Deschler-Brown Precedents, Volume 14,  Chapter 30]
[Chapter 30. Voting]
[D. Division of the Question for Voting]
[Â§ 45. Motions To Instruct Conferees; Motions To Recommit]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 11769-11771]
 
                               CHAPTER 30
 
                                 Voting
 
                 D. DIVISION OF THE QUESTION FOR VOTING
 
Sec. 45. Motions To Instruct Conferees; Motions To Recommit

To Concur With Amendment to Senate Amendment

Sec. 45.1 A motion to instruct conferees to agree to a Senate amendment 
    with an amendment is not divisible.

    On May 9, 1946,(12) the Speaker (13) 
requested the Clerk to read a motion to instruct conferees offered by 
Mr. Brent Spence, of Kentucky.
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12. 92 Cong. Rec. 4750, 4751, 79th Cong. 2d Sess.
13. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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        The Clerk read as follows:

            Mr. Spence moves to instruct the managers on the part of 
        the House at the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two 
        Houses on the bill H.R. 4761 to agree to section 11(a) of the 
        Senate amendment, with an amendment, as follows: Strike out 
        ``$600,000,000, as it appears therein, and insert in lieu 
        thereof ``$400,000,000''.

    Shortly thereafter, Mr. Vito Marcantonio, of New York, posed a 
parliamentary inquiry, as follows:

        Mr. Marcantonio: As I understand the motion filed by the 
    gentleman from Kentucky, it provides for agreeing to the Senate 
    amendment with an amendment. Is it possible to have the motion 
    divided so that a vote may be taken on the Senate amendment itself?

[[Page 11770]]

        The Speaker: It is one proposition, it is not divisible.

Recommittal of Conference Reports

Sec. 45.2 On a motion to recommit a conference report with 
    instructions, it is not in order to demand a separate vote on the 
    instructions or various branches thereof.

    On Apr. 11, 1956,(14) following a motion to recommit a 
conference report with instructions to insist on the alteration and 
striking of several sections and titles, Mr. Arthur Miller, of 
Nebraska, inquired as to whether a separate vote may be had on the 
various amendments. The Speaker (15) ruled that a motion to 
recommit is not subject to division.(16)
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14. 102 Cong. Rec. 6157, 84th Cong. 2d Sess.
15. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
16. See also 93 Cong. Rec. 7845, 80th Cong. 1st Sess., June 27, 1947.
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Recommital of Bill

Sec. 45.3 While the motion to recommit with instructions is not 
    divisible, a substantially and grammatically distinct amendment 
    contained in a successful motion to recommit with instructions may 
    be divided when reported back to the House forthwith.

    On June 29, 1993,(17) a motion to recommit a general 
appropriation bill with instructions to report the bill back 
immediately with an amendment of two parts was pending when a 
parliamentary inquiry was directed to the Speaker Pro Tempore. The 
inquiry assumed that the motion to recommit with instructions was not 
divisible (18) but was directed to the divisibility of the 
amendment in the event the motion to recommit were to be adopted.
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17. 139 Cong. Rec. 14617, 14618, 103d Cong. 1st Sess.
18. See 5 Hinds' Precedents Sec. 6134; 8 Cannon's Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 2737, 3170.
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        Mr. [John T.] Myers of Indiana: Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion 
    to recommit.
        The Speaker Pro Tempore: (19) Is the gentleman 
    opposed to the bill?
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19. G. V. (Sonny) Montgomery (Miss.).
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        Mr. Myers of Indiana: In its present form, I am, Mr. Speaker.
        The Speaker Pro Tempore: The Clerk will report the motion to 
    recommit.
        The Clerk read as follows:

            Mr. Myers of Indiana moves to recommit the bill H.R. 2491, 
        to the Committee on Appropriations with instructions to report 
        back the same to the House forthwith with the following 
        amendments:
            On page 69, after line 2, insert the following new section:
            ``SEC. . Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 
        except for Title I, Department of Veterans Affairs, each amount 
        appropriated or otherwise made available that is not re

[[Page 11771]]

        quired to be appropriated or otherwise made available by a 
        provision of law is hereby reduced by 6 percent.'';
            And on page 58, line 16, strike ``$5,000,000'' and insert 
        in lieu thereof ``$25,000,000''.

        The Speaker Pro Tempore: The gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Myers] 
    is recognized for 5 minutes in support of his motion to recommit.

                           parliamentary inquiry

        Mr. [Gerald B. H.] Solomon [of New York]: Mr. Speaker, I have a 
    parliamentary inquiry.
        The Speaker Pro Tempore: The gentleman will state his 
    parliamentary inquiry.
        Mr. Solomon: Mr. Speaker, I would just propound the question, 
    if the motion to recommit is adopted, is it not then in order for a 
    demand for a division of the question under the rules of the House?
        The Speaker Pro Tempore: If the motion to recommit is adopted, 
    the amendment in the form presented could be divided when reported 
    back to the House forthwith.
        Mr. Solomon: I thank the Chair.
        The Speaker Pro Tempore: Without objection, the previous 
    question is ordered on the motion to recommit.
        There was no objection.
        The Speaker Pro Tempore: The question is on the motion to 
    recommit.