[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 7, Chapters 22 - 25]
[Chapter 25. Appropriation Bills]
[A. Introductory Matters; Authorization of Appropriations]
[Â§ 1. Scope of Chapter]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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                               CHAPTER 25
 
                          Appropriation Bills
 
        A. INTRODUCTORY MATTERS; AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
 
Sec. 1. Scope of Chapter



    This chapter discusses consideration of appropriation bills on the 
floor, beginning with procedures for reporting and calling up such 
bills.(1) The requirement that appropriations contained in 
general appropriation bills must have been previously authorized by law 
is discussed in a general way; but detailed treatment of the 
prohibition against unauthorized appropriations and legislation on 
general appropriation bills is to be found in a separate 
chapter.(2)
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 1. For earlier treatment of the subject matter of this chapter, see 4 
        Hinds' Precedents Sec. Sec. 3553-3700; 7 Cannon's Precedents 
        Sec. Sec. 1116-1331, 1571-1578.
 2. Ch. 26, infra.
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    Matters relating to the duties, prerogatives, and jurisdiction of 
the Committee on Appropriations are discussed in the chapter on 
committees of the House.(3) Dicussion of referral of bills 
to committees is accordingly to be found in that chapter, although 
additional related precedents may be found in the chapter on 
introduction and reference of bills.(4) It may be noted for 
present purposes that the Committee on Appropriations has jurisdiction 
over all general appropriation bills.
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 3. Ch. 17, supra. Similarly, this chapter does not treat in any detail 
        the various powers and prerogatives of the House, including any 
        constitutional restrictions affecting appropriations for 
        particular purposes, such as the constitutional stricture (see 
        art. I Sec. 8 clause 12) that no appropriation of money ``to 
        raise and support armies'' shall be for a longer term than two 
        years. Matters relating to the powers and prerogatives of the 
        House, generally, including House authority with respect to 
        revenue and appropriation measures, are treated in Ch. 13, 
        supra.
 4. Ch. 16, supra.
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    Similarly, issues related to committee hearings and various 
oversight functions of the Committee on Appropriations are to some 
extent covered in the chapter on committees; procedures and issues that 
have developed too recently for inclusion in this edition will be taken 
up in supplements to this edition as they appear. Accordingly, the 
general oversight re

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sponsibilities of the committee with respect to conducting studies and 
examinations of the organization and operation of executive departments 
and agencies are not discussed at length here. Moreover, the hearings 
on the budget as a whole which are conducted by the committee in open 
session within 30 days of submission of the budget are not covered in 
any detail in this chapter.
    In particular, procedures under the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, and the impact of such act on the congressional budget process 
and on the role of the Committee on Appropriations, are necessarily 
given only limited treatment in this edition. A summary of the act's 
major provisions can be found in the chapter on the powers and 
prerogatives of the House.(5)
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 5. Ch. 13, supra. See House Rules and Manual Sec. Sec. 1007-11 (1981) 
        for provisions from the Congressional Budget Act.
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    At this point, it is clear that the impact of the Congressional 
Budget Act on the appropriations process and on the responsibilities of 
the Committee on Appropriations will be considerable. For example, the 
committee is given certain responsibilities with respect to rescissions 
of appropriations, transfers of unexpended balances, and the amount of 
new spending authority to be effective for a fiscal year. Its 
responsibilities extend to measures reported by other committees which 
exceed the appropriate allocation of new budget authority contained in 
the latest concurrent resolution on the budget for the fiscal year (the 
resolution setting forth, among other things, appropriate levels of 
budget outlays and of total new budget authority).
    New provisions also require the Committee on Appropriations (to the 
extent practicable), before reporting the first regular appropriation 
bill for the fiscal year, to complete subcommittee markup and full 
committee action on all regular appropriation bills for that year, and 
to submit to the House a summary report comparing the committee's 
recommendations with provisions of the latest concurrent resolution on 
the budget.(6)
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 6. For further discussion of the above provisions, see materials 
        contained in the latest edition of the House Rules and Manual, 
        and supplements to this edition of Deschler's Precedents. See 
        also the summary of Budget Act provisions in Ch. 13, supra.

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