[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 3, Chapters 10 - 14]
[Chapter 13. Powers and Prerogatives of the House]
[C. House Prerogative to Originate Revenue Bills]
[Â§ 18. Action on House Bill in Lieu of Senate Bill]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 1855-1863]
 
                               CHAPTER 13
 
                  Powers and Prerogatives of the House
 
            C. HOUSE PREROGATIVE TO ORIGINATE REVENUE BILLS
 
Sec. 18. Action on House Bill in Lieu of Senate Bill

Floor Approval

Sec. 18.1 The House amended a Senate bill to insert provisions of a 
    similar House-passed bill which included a tax provision, but 
    subsequently vacated proceedings whereby the House bill had been 
    laid on the table and the Senate bill approved, passed the House 
    bill again, and messaged it to the Senate.

[[Page 1856]]

    On May 4, 1959,(11) the House by unanimous consent 
vacated the proceedings whereby the House had tabled H.R. 5610, then 
amended and passed the bill again, and messaged it to the Senate. The 
proceedings whereby a Senate bill, S. 226, had been amended by the 
House to strike out Senate language and insert in lieu thereof the 
language of H.R. 5610, were vacated by unanimous consent.
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11. 105 Cong. Rec. 7310-13, 86th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. [Oren] Harris [of Arkansas]: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
    consent that the proceedings whereby the bill H.R. 5610 was laid on 
    the table, the amendment agreed to, the bill engrossed and read a 
    third time, and passed, be vacated for the purpose of offering an 
    amendment.
        The Clerk read the title of the bill.
        The Speaker: (12~) Is there objection to the request 
    of the gentleman from Arkansas?
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12. Sam Rayburn (Tex.).
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        Mr. [John B.] Bennett of Michigan: Reserving the right to 
    object, Mr. Speaker, will the chairman of our committee explain the 
    purpose of this request?
        Mr. Harris: The purpose of this unanimous consent request is 
    that the bill H.R. 5610 be reconsidered, after the vacating of the 
    proceedings of the House of last week in connection therewith, for 
    the purpose of agreeing to an amendment.
        Mr. Bennett of Michigan: I withdraw my reservation of 
    objection, Mr. Speaker. . . .
        The Speaker: Is there objection to the request of the gentleman 
    from Arkansas [Mr. Harris]?
        There was no objection.
        Mr. Harris: Mr. Speaker, I move to strike out all after the 
    enacting clause and insert an amendment, which I send to the 
    Clerk's desk.
        The Speaker: The Clerk will report the amendment. . . .
        The Speaker: The Clerk will read the amendment.
        The Clerk read as follows:

            Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the 
        following: . . .

        Mr. Harris: Mr. Speaker, for the information of the Members of 
    the House, I have asked unanimous consent that the proceedings 
    whereby the bill H.R. 5610 was laid on the table, the amendment 
    agreed to, the bill engrossed and read a third time and passed, be 
    vacated, for the purpose of offering an amendment.
        The unanimous consent request was agreed to, and I have offered 
    an amendment, which has just been read.
        The amendment to the bill H.R. 5610 which I have just offered 
    strikes out all after the enacting clause and inserts the 
    provisions of the bill that passed the Senate last week.
        You will recall that H.R. 5610, to amend the Railroad 
    Retirement Act of 1937, the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, and the 
    Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, was considered in the House 
    last Wednesday. A substitute was offered by the distinguished 
    gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. Staggers]. The substitute was 
    practically the same bill that was considered and passed by the 
    other body, with the ex

[[Page 1857]]

    ception of one amendment, which had to do with section 4. Under 
    this amendment pensions and annuities under this act or the 
    Railroad Retirement Act of 1935 will not be considered as income 
    for the purposes of section 522 of title 38 of the United States 
    Code. The Senate had considered that amendment, which is not out of 
    line with other provisions of law in other matters of this kind. So 
    that is the matter that is before us now.
        The necessity for this action is that last week after the House 
    had taken the action it did, we, as usual, when we have a bill from 
    the other body on the same subject on the Speaker's table, asked 
    that that bill be taken from the Speaker's desk, that all after the 
    enacting clause be stricken out, and that the House-passed bill be 
    inserted. That was the usual procedure we followed, and I made the 
    request after the House had taken its action last week. It later 
    developed that that was not the correct action that should have 
    been taken because there are tax provisions in this legislation. 
    The Constitution provides, as you know, that all legislation 
    relating directly to tax measures, revenues, must originate in the 
    House of Representatives. Therefore, this action to vacate that 
    proceeding is in order to comply with the constitutional provision 
    by passing this legislation in order to accomplish what the House 
    intended last week after it considered this matter rather 
    extensively.
        Mr. [Kenneth A.] Roberts [of Alabama]: Mr. Speaker, the 
    amendment to section 20 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937 made 
    by section 4 of the amendment provides that payments under such act 
    shall not be considered as income for purposes of section 522 of 
    title 38, United States Code. Under that section, pension for non-
    service-connected permanent and total disability is not paid to a 
    veteran whose annual income exceeds $1,400 if he has no dependents 
    or $2,700 if he has one or more dependents. Under existing law, 
    certain items are disregarded in determining whether a veteran has 
    exceeded the income limitations, and the amendment will add to the 
    list of such items payments under the Railroad Retirement Act of 
    1937.
        The cost of this amendment is negligible.
        The amendment was sponsored in the other body by Senator Hill, 
    of Alabama. I was happy to sponsor it in the House.
        The Speaker: The question is on the amendment.
        The amendment was agreed to.
        The Speaker: 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: The question is on the passage of the bill.
        The bill was passed.
        A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

        Mr. Harris: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the 
    proceedings whereby S. 226, an act to amend the Railroad Retirement 
    Act of 1937, the Railroad Retirement Tax Act, and the Railroad 
    Unemployment Insurance Act, so as to provide increases in benefits, 
    and for other purposes, as amended, was read a third time, and 
    passed, be vacated, and the bill be indefinitely postponed.

[[Page 1858]]

        The Speaker: Is there objection to the request of the gentleman 
    from Arkansas?
        There was no objection.

    Parliamentarian's Note: On Apr. 29, 1959, while the House had under 
consideration H.R. 5610, the Senate messaged to the House S. 226, a 
measure differing in only one respect from the House bill as it had 
been amended on the floor. After passage of H.R. 5610, a motion was 
adopted to strike out all after the enacting clause in S. 226 and 
insert the language of the House bill; the House bill was then laid on 
the table. The following day, shortly before the Senate bill was to be 
messaged to the Senate, a question was raised as to the 
constitutionality of the Senate-passed bill because it included a tax 
feature, and the delivery of the message to the Senate was stopped. The 
proceedings of the House on May 4, 1959, were necessitated by the 
requirement under the Constitution that all bills raising revenue 
originate in the House. Following the amendment of the House bill and 
the indefinite postponement of the Senate bill, the House bill, H. R. 
5610, was messaged to the Senate on May 5, 1959.

Sec. 18.2 The House, after it had amended a Senate bill to insert 
    provisions of a similar House passed bill which included a revenue-
    raising title, vacated the proceedings whereby the House bill had 
    been laid on the table, passed the bill again, and messaged it to 
    the Senate.

    On Dec. 7, 1970,(13) the House by unanimous consent 
vacated the proceedings whereby the House had tabled H.R. 19504, then 
passed the bill again, and messaged it to the Senate.
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13. 116 Cong. Rec. 40096, 91st Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. [George H.] Fallon [of Maryland]: Mr. Speaker, I ask 
    unanimous consent that the proceedings whereby the bill (H.R. 
    19504) to authorize appropriations for the construction of certain 
    highways in accordance with title 23, United States Code, and for 
    other purposes, was read a third time, passed, and the motion to 
    reconsider laid on the table and the bill then laid on the table, 
    be vacated.
        The Speaker: (14) Is there objection to the request 
    of the gentleman from Maryland?
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14. John W. McCormack (Mass.).
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        Mr. [H. R.] Gross [of Iowa]: Mr. Speaker, reserving the right 
    to object, I am at a loss to understand why this request is being 
    made. What is the reason therefor?
        Mr. Fallon: Mr. Speaker, I will say to the gentleman from Iowa, 
    we should not have vacated the House number and substituted the 
    Senate bill, since title III of the bill is a revenue measure and 
    must originate in the House.

[[Page 1859]]

        Mr. Gross: Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
        The Speaker: Is there objection to the request of the gentleman 
    from Maryland?
        There was no objection.
        The engrossed House bill (H.R. 19504) was ordered to be read a 
    third time, was read the third time, and passed.
        A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

    Parliamentarian's Note: The House did not ask for the return to the 
House of the amended Senate bill, S. 4418. That bill never emerged from 
conference. It was the House measure which was finally enacted as 
Public Law No. 91-605.

Sec. 18.3 The House vacated the proceedings by which it added a 
    revenue-raising amendment to a pending Senate bill, preferring to 
    postpone further consideration of the Senate bill while sending a 
    House bill, containing the revenue provision, to the Senate.

    On May 11, 1970,(15) the House agreed to amend S. 2694, 
amending the District of Columbia Police and Firemen's Salary Act of 
1958 and the District of Columbia Teachers' Salary Act of 1955, by 
striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting in lieu 
thereof the language of H.R. 17138, a similar measure which, unlike the 
Senate bill, included a provision (title V) to impose new taxes. The 
House bill, H.R. 17138, was tabled.
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15. 116 Cong. Rec. 14951-60, 91st Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. [Don] Fuqua [of Florida]: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
    consent that the Committee on the District of Columbia be 
    discharged from further consideration of S. 2694, to amend the 
    District of Columbia Police and Firemen's Salary Act of 1958 and 
    the District of Columbia Teachers' Salary Act of 1955 to increase 
    salaries, and for other purposes, a Senate bill similar to that 
    passed by the House, and ask for its immediate consideration.
        The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
        The Speaker: (16) Is there objection to the request 
    of the gentleman from Florida?
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16. John W. McCormack (Mass.).
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        There was no objection.
        The Clerk read the Senate bill, as follows:

                                    S. 2694

            Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
        the United States of America in Congress assembled,

         Title I.--Salary Increases for District of Columbia Policemen 
                                  and Firemen
                               * * * * *

        Mr. Fuqua: Mr. Speaker, I offer an amendment.

[[Page 1860]]

        The Clerk read as follows:

            Amendment offered by Mr. Fuqua: Strike out all after the 
        enacting clause of S. 2694 and insert in lieu thereof the 
        language of H.R. 17138, as passed, as follows:

         Title I.--Salary Increases for District of Columbia Policemen 
                                  and Firemen
                               * * * * *

         Title V.--Amendments to the District of Columbia Revenue Laws

            Sec. 501. Section 3 of title VI of the District of Columbia 
        Income and Franchise Tax Act of 1947 (D.C. Code, sec. 47-
        1567b(a)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``Sec. 3. Imposition of Tax.--In the case of a taxable year 
        beginning after December 31, 1969, there is hereby imposed on 
        the taxable income of every resident a tax determined in 
        accordance with the following table: . . .''

        The amendment was agreed to.
        The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read 
    the third time, and passed.
        A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
        A similar House bill (H.R. 17138) was laid on the table.

    On May 12, 1970,(17) the House vacated the proceedings 
whereby H.R. 17138 was tabled and subsequently passed the House bill.
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17. 116 Cong. Rec. 15145-50, 91st Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. Fuqua: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the 
    proceedings whereby the bill (H.R. 17138) to amend the District of 
    Columbia Police and Firemen's Salary Act of 1968, and the District 
    of Columbia Teachers' Salary Act of 1955 to increase salaries, and 
    for other purposes, was read a third time and passed and laid on 
    the table be vacated.
        The Speaker: Is there objection to the request of the gentleman 
    from Florida?
        There was no objection.
        Mr. Fuqua: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for the 
    immediate consideration of the engrossed bill.
        The Speaker: Is there objection to the request of the gentleman 
    from Florida?
        There was no objection.
        The Clerk read the engrossed bill. . . .

    It then vacated the proceedings of May 11, 1970, whereby S. 2694, 
as amended by insertion of the language of the House bill, was 
approved, and indefinitely postponed further action on the Senate bill.

        Vacating Proceedings on S. 2694, Salary Increases for District 
                  of Columbia Teachers, Policemen, and Firemen

        Mr. Fuqua: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the 
    proceedings whereby the House considered, amended, and passed the 
    bill of the Senate (S. 2694) to amend the District of Columbia 
    Police and Firemen's Salary Act of 1958 and the District of 
    Columbia Teacher's Salary Act of 1955 to increase salaries, and for 
    other purposes, be vacated and that further proceedings on that 
    bill be indefinitely postponed.

[[Page 1861]]

        The Speaker: Is there objection to the request of the gentleman 
    from Florida?
        There was no objection.

    Parliamentarian's Note: S. 2694 as passed by the Senate did not 
contain a revenue provision. Title V of the House passed bill (H.R. 
17138) did, however, contain a provision amending the D.C. revenue laws 
to impose new taxes on D.C. residents. S. 2694 was amended on May 10 to 
include the provisions of the House-passed bill. On the morning of May 
12, before the Senate bill had been messaged back to the Senate, it was 
discovered that the House amendment to the Senate bill contained the 
revenue feature, which constituted a violation of article I, section 7 
of the Constitution (requiring bills for raising revenue to originate 
in the House). For this reason, the House vacated the proceedings of 
May 11 and messaged the House bill to the Senate.

Committee Decision

Sec. 18.4 The Committee on Ways and Means, having voted not to 
    recommend to the House the return of a Senate bill decreasing the 
    debt limit as infringing on the prerogatives of the House, reported 
    out a House bill on the same subject, which passed the House and 
    Senate and became a public law.

    On June 6, 1946,(18) the Committee on Ways and Means, 
after deciding not to recommend that the House return to the Senate a 
Senate bill which had been referred to it, and which sought to decrease 
the debt limit, reported out a bill (H.R. 2404) on the same subject, 
which passed the House and Senate and became Public Law No. 79-28 (59 
Stat. 47).
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18. 92 Cong. Rec. 6436, 79th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        A bill of the Senate of the following title was taken from the 
    Speaker's table and, under the rule, referred as follows:

            S. 1760. An act to decrease the debt limit of the United 
        States from $300,000,000,000 to $275,000,000,000; to the 
        Committee on Ways and Means.

Sec. 18.5 Where the Senate had passed a bill which possibly infringed 
    upon the House's constitutional prerogative to originate revenue 
    legislation--a bill to authorize the President to extend certain 
    privileges and immunities (including exemptions from customs duties 
    and importation taxes) to the Organization of African Unity--the 
    House passed an identical

[[Page 1862]]

    bill reported from the Committee on Ways and Means.

    On Nov. 6, 1973,(19) the House by a vote of yeas 340, 
nays 39, not voting 54, approved H.R. 8219, a bill identical to a 
Senate-passed bill which arguably infringed upon the constitutional 
prerogative of the House to originate revenue legislation.
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19. 119 Cong. Rec. 36006-08, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. [Albert C.] Ullman [of Oregon]: Mr. Speaker, I move to 
    suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8219) to amend the 
    International Organizations Immunities Act to authorize the 
    President to extend certain privileges and immunities to the 
    Organization of African Unity.
        The Clerk read as follows:

                                 H.R. 8219

            Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
        the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
        International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288-288f) 
        is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new 
        section:
            ``Sec. 12. The provisions of this title may be extended to 
        the Organization of African Unity in the same manner, to the 
        same extent, and subject to the same conditions, as they may be 
        extended to a public international organization in which the 
        United States participates pursuant to any treaty or under the 
        authority of any Act of Congress authorizing such participation 
        or making an appropriation for such participation.''

        The Speaker: (1) Is a second demanded?
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 1. Carl Albert (Okla.).
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        Mr. [Herman T.] Schneebeli [of Pennsylvania: Mr. Speaker, I 
    demand a second.
        The Speaker: Without objection, a second will be considered as 
    ordered.
        There was no objection.
        Mr. Ullman: Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
    consume.
        Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the pending bill, as reported to 
    the House by the Committee on Ways and Means, is to provide the 
    President with authority to extend to the Organization of African 
    Unity and its office, officials, and employees in the United States 
    those privileges and immunities specified in the International 
    Organizations Immunities Act.
        Under the bill, at the discretion of the President the 
    Organization of African Unity--OAU--may be designated by the 
    President as an international organization for purposes of the 
    International Organizations Immunities Act. Upon such a designation 
    the organization, to the extent so provided by the President, will 
    be exempt from customs duties on property imported for the 
    activities in which it engages, from income taxes, from withholding 
    taxes on wages, and from excise taxes on services and facilities. 
    In addition, the employees of the international organization, to 
    the extent not nationals of the United States, may not be subject 
    to U.S. income tax on the income they receive from OAU. OAU is an 
    organization composed of 41 member states, representing all the 
    independent African nations--except the Republic of

[[Page 1863]]

    South Africa--and acts to further the goals of political and 
    economic development of Africa. It presently has a mission in New 
    York. . . .
        The Speaker: The question is on the motion of the gentleman 
    from Oregon (Mr. Ullman) that the House suspend the rules and pass 
    the bill H.R. 8219.
        The question was taken.
        Mr. [John R.] Rarick [of Louisiana]: Mr. Speaker, I object to 
    the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the 
    point of order that a quorum is not present.
        The Speaker: Evidently a quorum is not present.
        The Sergeant at Arms will notify absent Members.
        The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 
    340, nays 39, not voting 54, as follows: . . .
        The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
        A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

    Parliamentarian's Note: Although it did not directly ``raise'' 
revenue, the Senate bill clearly ``affected'' revenue, because it 
granted an immunity from taxation.