[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 7, Chapters 22 - 25]
[Chapter 24. Bills, Resolutions, and Memorials]
[B. General Procedures Associated With Passage of Legislation]
[Â§ 14. Enrollment; Correcting Bills in Enrollment]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 4901-4910]
 
                               CHAPTER 24
 
              Bills, Resolutions, Petitions, and Memorials
 
      B. GENERAL PROCEDURES ASSOCIATED WITH PASSAGE OF LEGISLATION
 
Sec. 14. Enrollment; Correcting Bills in Enrollment

Enrollment Procedure

Sec. 14.1 A bill is enrolled by the House in which it originated. Under 
    the enrollment procedure, the bill is printed at the Government 
    Printing Office on distinctive paper under special 
    supervision.(4)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4. Procedure in the U.S. House of Representatives (97th Cong.), Ch. 24 
        Sec. 6.1.
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Sec. 14.2 Under Rule X clause 4(d)(1),(5) the Committee on
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 5. House Rules and Manual Sec. 697b (1981).
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[[Page 4902]]

    House Administration has the function of ``examining all bills, 
    amendments, and joint resolutions after passage by the House and, 
    in cooperation with the Senate, examining all bills and joint 
    resolutions which shall have passed both Houses to see that they 
    are correctly enrolled, forthwith presenting those which originated 
    in the House to the President of the United States in person after 
    their signature by the Speaker of the House and the President of 
    the Senate and reporting the fact and date of such presentation to 
    the House.''

Sec. 14.3 The Committee on House Administration reports to the House 
    when it carries out its functions of certifying the correct 
    enrollment of bills and joint resolutions.

     On Mar. 24, 1947,(6) Mr. Karl M. Le Compte, of Iowa, 
from the Committee on House Administration reported that that committee 
had examined and found truly enrolled and signed by the Speaker the 
joint resolution of the House (H.J. Res. 27) proposing an amendment to 
the Constitution of the United States relating to the terms of office 
of the President. Mr. Le Compte announced further that that committee 
had presented to and filed with the Secretary of State such joint 
resolution.
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 6. 93 Cong. Rec. 2482, 80th Cong. 1st Sess.
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    Parliamentarian's Note: Constitutional amendments, having passed 
both Houses of Congress, are now presented to the Administrator of 
General Services for transmission to the several states for 
ratification. See 1 USC Sec. 106b; 1 USC Sec. 112.

Sec. 14.4 In the Senate, the responsibility for the correct enrollment 
    of bills and joint resolutions is vested in the Secretary of the 
    Senate.

    On Jan. 30, 1945,(7) the Senate considered and agreed to 
the following resolution (S. Res. 64):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. 91 Cong. Rec. 591, 592, 79th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate shall examine all 
    bills, amendments, and joint resolutions before they go out of the 
    possession of the Senate, and shall examine all bills and joint 
    resolutions which shall have passed both Houses, to see that the 
    same are correctly enrolled, and, when signed by the Speaker of the 
    House and the President of the Senate, shall forthwith present the 
    same, when they shall have originated in the Senate, to

[[Page 4903]]

    the President of the United States, and report the fact and date of 
    such presentation to the Senate.

     Parliamentarian's Note: The provisions of this resolution are now 
part of the standing rules of the Senate. See Rule XIV, paragraph 5, 
Senate Manual Sec. 14.5 (1975).

Authorizing Numerical Corrections

Sec. 14.5 The House agreed to a concurrent resolution providing that in 
    the enrollment of general appropriation bills enacted during the 
    remainder of a session, the Clerk of the House could correct 
    chapter, title, and section numbers.

    On July 4, 1952,(8) the House, by unanimous consent, 
considered and agreed to the following concurrent resolution (H. Con. 
Res. 239):
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 8. 98 Cong. Rec. 9440, 82d Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
    concurring), That in the enrollment of general appropriation bills 
    enacted during the remainder of the second session of the Eighty-
    second Congress the Clerk of the House may correct chapter, title, 
    and section numbers.

    The Senate also agreed to this resolution (see H. Jour. 761, 82d 
Cong. 2d Sess., July 5, 1952).

Changing Items in Appropriation Bill

Sec. 14.6 Items in an appropriation bill not in disagreement between 
    the two Houses, and hence not committed to the conferees, were, by 
    unanimous consent, changed through adoption of a concurrent 
    resolution directing the changes in the enrollment of the bill.

     On July 23, 1962,(9) Mr. Albert Thomas, of Texas, 
called up for consideration under a previous unanimous-consent 
agreement a concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 505) making 29 changes 
in a supplemental appropriation bill (H.R. 11038). Had the items been 
included in the conference agreement, the report would have been 
subject to a point of order. In explanation of the concurrent 
resolution Mr. Thomas stated:
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 9. 108 Cong. Rec. 14400, 87th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Mr. Speaker, it will be recalled this deals with what we call 
    the second supplemental appropriation bill for 1962. When the 
    supplemental left the House it had 55 items carrying about $447 
    million, which was a reduction, in round figures, of $100 million 
    under the budget, a reduction of about 20 percent.
        It went to the other body and that body added some 29 items, 
    increasing

[[Page 4904]]

    the amount over the House by $112 million, which made a round 
    figure of about $560 million.
        We bring to you two items, one a concurrent resolution and the 
    other a conference report. First, why the concurrent resolution? We 
    put in the concurrent resolution some 29 items which were 
    originally in the supplemental, but those 29 items are a 
    reduction--follow me now--below the figure that was in the 
    supplemental when it left the House and the figure when it left the 
    Senate.

        It is a complete reduction and a change. It is in the 
    concurrent resolution because it could not be in the conference 
    report, and the reason it could not be in the conference report is 
    because it is a reduction in those amounts.

    The concurrent resolution was agreed to.(10)
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10. Id. at p. 14403.
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Correcting Printing Errors

Sec. 14.7 The House agreed to a concurrent resolution authorizing the 
    Clerk of the House, in the enrollment of a House bill, to correct 
    certain printing errors in the bill as reported from conference to 
    reflect the true intention of the conferees and the two Houses.

     On Oct. 17, 1966,(11) the House, by unanimous consent, 
considered and agreed to the following concurrent resolution (H. Con. 
Res. 1039):
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11. 112 Cong. Rec. 27152, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
    concurring), That the Clerk of the House of Representatives in the 
    enrollment of the bill (H.R. 15857) to amend the District of 
    Columbia Police and Fireman's Salary Act of 1958 to increase 
    salaries of officers and members of the Metropolitan Police force 
    and the Fire Department, and for other purposes, is authorized and 
    directed to make the following corrections in the salary schedule 
    for teachers, school officers, and certain other employees of the 
    District of Columbia Board of Education, which is provided in 
    section 202(1) of the bill:
        (1) In class 3, step 2, strike out ``$16,856'' and insert in 
    lieu thereof ``$16,865''.
        (2) In class 3, step 6, strike out ``18,115'' and insert in 
    lieu thereof ``18,105''.
        (3) In class 6, group C, principal level III, step 5, strike 
    out ``14,905'' and insert ``14,095''.(12)
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12. Parliamentarian's Note: Printing errors in the conference report 
        were not discovered until after the Senate had acted on the 
        report. These errors could have been corrected by a star print 
        had they been caught before the two Houses had acted.
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Return of Original Papers to Senate

Sec. 14.8 By concurrent resolution the Senate requested return of a 
    House bill erro

[[Page 4905]]

    neously messaged to the House as having passed the Senate without 
    amendment; the Secretary of the Senate was authorized, upon its 
    return, to transmit the bill to the House with a Senate amendment, 
    and provided for the return to the House of an incorrectly enrolled 
    bill, signed by the Speaker, and that the Speaker's signature be 
    rescinded.

    On Aug. 8, 1957,(13) the Speaker, Sam Rayburn, of Texas, 
laid before the House the following concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 
46):
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13. 103 Cong. Rec. 14102, 85th Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
    concurring), That the House of Representatives return to the Senate 
    the engrossed bill (H.R. 5707) for the relief of the A. C. Israel 
    Commodity Co., Inc., erroneously messaged to the House on August 6, 
    1957, as having passed the Senate on the preceding day without 
    amendment; that upon its return to the Senate the Secretary shall 
    transmit to the House the said bill, together with the amendment 
    made by the Senate thereto; that the enrolled bill, signed by the 
    Speaker of the House and transmitted to the Senate on yesterday, be 
    returned to the House, and that the action of the Speaker in 
    signing said enrolled bill be thereupon rescinded.

Rescinding Enrollment

Sec. 14.9 The House, by unanimous consent, agreed to a concurrent 
    resolution rescinding the action of the Speaker and President of 
    the Senate in signing an enrolled bill and directing the Clerk of 
    the House to reenroll the bill with certain changes.

    On Apr. 21, 1938,(14) the House agreed to the following 
concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 30) which had passed the Senate on 
Mar. 30, 1938:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. 83 Cong. Rec. 5640, 75th Cong. 3d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
    concurring), That the action of the Speaker of the House of 
    Representatives and the President of the Senate in signing the 
    enrolled bill (H.R. 5793) for the relief of Josephine Fontana be, 
    and it is hereby, rescinded, and the Clerk of the House be, and he 
    is hereby, authorized and directed to reenroll the bill with the 
    following amendments, viz: . . . strike out ``Josephine Fontana, . 
    . . $600 in full satisfaction of her claim'' and . . . insert . . . 
    ``Nathaniel M. Harvey, as administrator of the estate of Josephine 
    Fontana. . . .''

Sec. 14.10 The House, by unanimous consent, agreed to a Senate 
    concurrent resolution rescinding the signatures of the two 
    presiding officers on

[[Page 4906]]

    an enrolled bill and providing for its return to the Senate.

     On May 24, 1956,(15) the House considered and agreed to 
the following concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 80):
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15. 102 Cong. Rec. 8945, 84th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
    concurring), That the action of the Speaker pro tempore of the 
    House of Representatives and of the President of the Senate in 
    signing the enrolled bill (H.R. 4656) relating to the Lumbee 
    Indians of North Carolina be, and it is hereby, rescinded, and that 
    the engrossed bill be returned to the Senate.

Sec. 14.11 The House, by unanimous consent, agreed to a Senate 
    concurrent resolution rescinding the action of the Speaker and 
    President of the Senate in signing an enrolled bill and requesting 
    the House to return the engrossed copy to the Senate.

    On Apr. 5, 1938,(16) the House considered and agreed to 
the following concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 29):
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16. 83 Cong. Rec. 4775, 75th Cong. 3d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
    concurring), That the action of the Speaker of the House of 
    Representatives and of the President of the Senate in signing the 
    enrolled bill (H.R. 7158) to except yachts, tugs, towboats, and 
    unrigged vessels from certain provisions of the act of June 25, 
    1936, as amended, be, and it is hereby, rescinded; and that the 
    House of Representatives be, and it is hereby, requested to return 
    to the Senate the engrossed bill.

Sec. 14.12 The House, by unanimous consent, agreed to a concurrent 
    resolution rescinding the action of the Speaker and Vice President 
    in signing an enrolled bill and requesting the House to return to 
    the Senate its message announcing its agreement to an amendment of 
    the House.

     On June 4, 1935,(17) the House considered the following 
concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 16):
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17. 79 Cong. Rec. 8645, 74th Cong. 1st Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
    concurring), That the action of the Speaker of the House of 
    Representatives and the Vice President of the United States, 
    respectively, in signing the enrolled bill (S. 2105) to provide for 
    an additional number of cadets at the United States Military 
    Academy, and for other purposes, be, and the same is hereby, 
    rescinded; and that the House of Representatives be, and it is 
    hereby, requested to return to the Senate the message announcing 
    its agreement to the amendments of the House to the said bill.

[[Page 4907]]

Reenrollment With a Correction

Sec. 14.13 The House, by unanimous consent, agreed to a concurrent 
    resolution rescinding the action of the Speaker in signing an 
    enrolled bill and authorizing the Clerk to reenroll it with a 
    correction.

     On Aug. 17, 1954,(1) the House considered and passed 
the following concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 106):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1. 100 Cong. Rec. 14877, 83d Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
    concurring), That the action of the Speaker of the House of 
    Representatives in signing the enrolled bill (H.R. 1975) to amend 
    section 2201 of title 28, United States Code, to extend the Federal 
    Declaratory Judgments Act to the Territory of Alaska, be rescinded, 
    and that the Clerk of the House be, and he is hereby authorized and 
    directed, in the reenrollment of the bill, to make the following 
    correction:
        On page 1, line 6 of the engrossed House bill, strike out the 
    word ``section'' and in lieu thereof insert the word ``sentence.''

Sec. 14.14 The House, by unanimous consent, agreed to a Senate 
    concurrent resolution authorizing and directing the Clerk of the 
    House to reenroll a House bill with a correction.

    On Oct. 13, 1966,(2) the House considered and agreed to 
the following concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 113):
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 2. 112 Cong. Rec. 26639, 26640, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
    concurring), That the Clerk of the House of Representatives of the 
    United States be authorized to correct an enrolling error in H.R. 
    698, to provide for the establishment of the Guadalupe Mountains 
    National Park in the State of Texas, and for other purposes, and 
    that section 3(a) of H.R. 698, shall when corrected read as 
    follows:
        ``When title to all privately owned land within the boundary of 
    the park, subject to such outstanding interests, rights, and 
    easements as the Secretary determines are not objectionable. . . 
    .'' (3)
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 3. Parliamentarian's Note: The Senate originated this concurrent 
        resolution since the error in the enrollment was in reality a 
        Senate error reflecting a mistake in the engrossment of the 
        Senate amendment to the House bill.
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 Reenrollment With a Change

Sec. 14.15 The House agreed to a concurrent resolution rescinding the 
    action of the Speaker in signing an enrolled bill and authorizing 
    the Secretary of the Senate to reenroll the bill with a change.

[[Page 4908]]

    On June 16, 1954,(4) Speaker Joseph W. Martin, of 
Massachusetts, laid before the House a concurrent resolution (S. Con. 
Res. 87) which the House considered and agreed to:
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 4. 100 Cong. Rec. 8360, 83d Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
    concurring), That the action of the Speaker of the House of 
    Representatives in signing the enrolled bill (S. 2657), to amend 
    the act entitled ``An act to regulate the practice of the healing 
    art to protect the public health in the District of Columbia,'' be, 
    and the same is hereby, rescinded; and that the Secretary of the 
    Senate be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to reenroll 
    the bill with the following change, namely: On page 2, line 6, 
    after the word ``or'', insert the word ``by''.

Sec. 14.16 The House, by unanimous consent, agreed to a concurrent 
    resolution authorizing and directing the Secretary of the Senate to 
    make certain corrections in the enrollment of a Senate bill.

    On Aug. 25, 1966,(5) the House considered and agreed to 
the following concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 990):
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 5. 112 Cong. Rec. 20688, 89th Cong. 2d Sess.
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        Resolved, That in the enrollment of the bill (S. 3105) to 
    authorize certain construction at military installations, and for 
    other purposes, the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and 
    directed to make the following correction:
        In section 612, strike out ``$50,000'' and insert ``$150,000''.

Sec. 14.17 The House, by unanimous consent, agreed to a concurrent 
    resolution authorizing the Secretary of the Senate to make such 
    corrections in title and section numbers and cross references as 
    may be necessary by reason of the omission of a title in an 
    enrolled bill.

    On Mar. 23, 1942,(6) the House considered and agreed to 
the following concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 27):
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 6. 88 Cong. Rec. 2808, 77th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
    concurring), That in enrolling the bill (S. 2208) to further 
    expedite the prosecution of the war, the Secretary of the Senate is 
    authorized and directed to make all necessary corrections in title 
    and section numbers and cross references as may be necessary by 
    reason of the omission from the enrolled bill of title VIII.

Sec. 14.18 By unanimous consent, the House adopted a concurrent 
    resolution authorizing and directing the Secretary of the Senate, 
    in the enrollment of a bill, to make cer

[[Page 4909]]

    tain conforming changes to the title of the bill, changes designed 
    to make the title conform to amendments made to the text thereof.

    On Oct. 1, 1968 (7) the House considered and agreed to 
the following concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 838):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 7. 114 Cong. Rec. 28863, 90th Cong. 2d Sess.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

         Correction of Title of the Bill S. 698, Intergovernmental 
                          Cooperation Act of 1968

        Mr. [Chet] Holifield [of California]: Mr. Speaker, I offer a 
    concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 838) and ask unanimous consent 
    for its immediate consideration.
        The Clerk read the concurrent resolution as follows:

            Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
        concurring), That the Secretary of the Senate in the enrollment 
        of the bill (S. 698) to achieve the fullest cooperation and 
        coordination of activities among the levels of government . . . 
        and for other purposes, is authorized and directed to correct 
        the title of the bill so as to read: ``An Act to achieve the 
        fullest cooperation and coordination of activities among the 
        levels of government . . . and for other purposes.''

        The Speaker Pro Tempore: (8) Is there objection to 
    the request of the gentleman from California?
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 8. Carl Albert (Okla.).
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        There was no objection.
        The concurrent resolution was agreed to.

Incomplete Enrollment

Sec. 14.19 Where in the enrollment of a bill a section thereof was 
    omitted and the President signed the bill as presented to him, the 
    Congress, by unanimous consent, immediately enacted an amendment to 
    the law inserting the omitted section.

    On July 1, 1954,(9) the House considered and agreed to a 
joint resolution (H.J. Res. 553) amending a law (Priv. L. No. 495) to 
include a section that had been inadvertently omitted from the enrolled 
bill sent to the President.(10)
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 9. 100 Cong. Rec. 9566, 83d Cong. 2d Sess.
10. Parliamentarian's Note: In the enrollment of H.R. 7258, a private 
        bill for the relief of the Willmore Engineering Company, a 
        portion of the bill, section 2, which had been in the bill when 
        it was passed by both the House and the Senate, was erroneously 
        omitted. The erroneously enrolled bill was signed by the 
        presiding officers of the two Houses and approved by the 
        President on June 30, 1954. The omission of section 2 was 
        discovered only after the bill had been approved by the 
        President.
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Providing for Duplicate Enrollment

Sec. 14.20 Pursuant to a concurrent resolution brought up

[[Page 4910]]

    and agreed to by unanimous consent, the Clerk presented the 
    duplicate copy of an enrolled bill to the President after the 
    original copy had been lost.

    On May 15, 1935,(11) the Speaker (12) laid 
before the House the following communication:
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11. 79 Cong. Rec. 7633, 74th Cong. 1st Sess.
12. Joseph W. Byrns (Tenn.).

                                                     May 15, 1935.
    The Speaker,
    House of Representatives,
    Washington, D.C.

        Sir: Pursuant to the provisions of House Concurrent Resolution 
    21, Seventy-fourth Congress, I have this day presented to the 
    President of the United States the signed duplicate copy of the 
    enrolled bill, H.R. 6084. . . .
        Very truly yours,
                                                South Trimble,
                                                    Clerk of the
                                         House of Representatives.

    Parliamentarian's Note: For circumstances which required this 
duplicate enrollment, see Sec. 15.16, infra.