[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 7, Chapters 22 - 25]
[Chapter 23. Motions]
[F. Motions to Reconsider]
[Â§ 41. Debate on Motion]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 4745-4746]
 
                               CHAPTER 23
 
                                Motions
 
                        F. MOTIONS TO RECONSIDER
 
Sec. 41. Debate on Motion

When Motion is Debatable

Sec. 41.1 The motion to reconsider is debatable if the motion proposed 
    to be reconsidered was debatable.

    On Sept. 13, 1965,(8) the House adopted House Resolution 
506, providing for consideration of H.R. 10065, the Equal Employment 
Opportunity Act of 1965. There then occurred the discussion below, 
which suggests the circumstances under which a motion to reconsider may 
be debated:
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 8. 111 Cong. Rec. 23608, 89th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. [William M.] McCulloch [of Ohio]: Mr. Speaker, a 
    parliamentary inquiry.
        The Speaker: (9) The gentleman will state it.
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 9. John W. McCormack (Mass.).
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        Mr. McCulloch: Mr. Speaker, was the previous question ordered 
    on the question to adopt the resolution that has just been voted 
    on?
        The Speaker: It was not.
        Mr. McCulloch: Mr. Speaker, having voted in the affirmative. I 
    now move that the vote by which House Resolution 506 was adopted be 
    now reconsidered.
        Mr. [Carl] Albert [of Oklahoma]: Mr. Speaker, I move that that 
    motion be laid upon the table.
        Mr. McCulloch: Mr. Speaker, I ask for the yeas and nays.
        The Speaker: The question is on the motion offered by the 
    gentleman from Oklahoma [Mr. Albert].
        Mr. [Melvin R.] Laird [of Wisconsin]: Mr. Speaker, a 
    parliamentary inquiry.
        The Speaker: The Chair is in the process of counting.
        Evidently a sufficient number have risen, and the yeas and nays 
    are ordered.
        Mr. Laird: Mr. Speaker, a parliamentary inquiry.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will state has parliamentary 
    inquiry.
        Mr. Laird: Mr. Speaker, on the resolution just passed no one 
    was allowed to debate that resolution on behalf of the minority or 
    the majority. If this motion to table, offered by the gentlemen 
    from Oklahoma [Mr. Albert] is defeated, then there will be time to 
    debate the resolution just passed.
        The question of reconsideration is debatable, and it can be 
    debated on the merits of the legislation which has not been debated 
    by the House.
        The Speaker: What part of the gentleman's statement does he 
    make as a parliamentary inquiry?
        Mr. Laird: Mr. Speaker, if the motion to table is defeated, the 
    motion to reconsider will give us an opportunity

[[Page 4746]]

    to debate the question on the resolution.
        The Speaker: Under the present circumstances, the motion to 
    reconsider would be debatable.
        Mr. Laird: I thank the Speaker.
        Mr. McCulloch: Mr. Speaker, a parliamentary inquiry.
        The Speaker: The gentleman will state his parliamentary 
    inquiry.
        Mr. McCulloch: Mr. Speaker, what time woud be allowed to debate 
    the question and how would it be divided?
        The Speaker: It will be under the 1-hour rule and the gentleman 
    from Ohio would be entitled to the control of the entire hour.
        The Chair will restate the question on which the yeas and nays 
    have been demanded and ordered.
        The question is on the motion of the gentleman from Oklahoma 
    [Mr. Albert] to lay on the table the motion to reconsider.
        The question was taken; and there were--yeas 194, nays 181, not 
    voting 57.

Senate Practice

Sec. 41.2 A Motion to reconsider is debatable under Senate rules. 
    During the Senate debate of May 6, 1964,(10) on H.R. 
    7152 (Civil Rights Act of 1963), Mr. Everett M. Dirksen, of 
    Illinois, sought reconsideration of a tie vote on certain 
    amendments and raised the following parliamentary inquiry:
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10. 110 Cong. Rec. 10201-03, 88th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. Dirksen: Mr. President, a parliamentary inquiry.
        The Acting President Pro Tempore: (11) The Senator 
    will state it.
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11. Lee Metcalf (Mont.).
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        Mr. Dirksen: A motion to reconsider is a debatable motion, is 
    it not?
        The Acting President Pro Tempore: The Senator is correct.
        Mr. Dirksen: So any Senator who wishes to discuss the motion to 
    reconsider is at liberty to do so upon recognition?
        The Acting President Pro Tempore: The Senator is correct. The 
    Senator from Illinois has the floor.