[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 117th Congress]
[117th Congress]
[House Document 116-177]
[Jeffersons Manual of ParliamentaryPractice]
[Pages 231-234]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



              sec. xxxi--bill, second reading in the house


[[Page 232]]

on amendments proposed; but when through the whole, he puts the question 
whether it shall be read a third time, if it came from the other house, 
or, if originating with themselves, whether it shall be engrossed and 
read a third time. The speaker reads sitting, but rises to put 
questions. The clerk stands while he reads.


Sec. 428. Manner of reading a bill the second 
time.

  In  Parliament, after the bill has been read a second time, if on 
the motion and question it be not committed, or if no proposition for 
commitment be made, the speaker reads it by paragraphs, pausing between 
each, but putting no question but



  But the Senate of the United States is so much in the habit of making 
many and material amendments at the third reading that it has become the 
practice not to engross a bill till it has passed--an irregular and 
dangerous practice, because in this way the paper which passes the 
Senate is not that which goes to the other House, and that which goes to 
the other House as the act of the Senate has never been seen in the 
Senate. In reducing numerous, difficult, and illegible amendments into 
the text the Secretary may, with the most innocent intentions, commit 
errors which can never again be corrected.


  In the House the Clerk and not the Speaker or chair of the Committee 
of the Whole reads bills on second reading. After the second reading, 
which is by paragraph or section in the Committee of the Whole, the bill 
is open to amendment (see Sec. 980, infra). Clause 8 of rule XVI, as 
explained in Sec. 942, infra, governs first and second readings of bills 
in the House and in the Committee of the Whole. The requirement for the 
Speaker to rise when putting a question was removed from clause 6 of 
rule I in the 115th Congress (sec. 2(e), H. Res. 5, Jan. 3, 2017, p. _).


[[Page 233]]

go on to its perfect state, to take time to examine it themselves and to 
hear what can be said for it, knowing that after all they will have 
sufficient opportunities of giving it their veto. Its two last stages, 
therefore, are reserved for this--that is to say, on the question 
whether it shall be engrossed and read a third time, and, lastly, 
whether it shall pass. The first of these is usually the most 
interesting contest, because then the whole subject is new and engaging, 
and the minds of the Members having not yet been declared by any trying 
vote the issue is the more doubtful. In this stage, therefore, is the 
main trial of strength between its friends and opponents, and it 
behooves everyone to make up his mind decisively for this question, or 
he loses the main battle; and accident and management may, and often do, 
prevent a successful rallying on the next and last question, whether it 
shall pass.



Sec. 429. Test of strength on engrossment after 
amendment.

  The  bill being now as perfect as its friends can make it, this 
is the proper stage for those fundamentally opposed to make their first 
attack. All attempts at earlier periods are with disjointed efforts, 
because many who do not expect to be in favor of the bill ultimately, 
are willing to let it





Sec. 430. Test of strength on a bill before amending.

  In  the 
House there are two other means of testing strength: raising the 
question of consideration when the bill first comes up (clause 3 of rule 
XVI), and moving to strike the enacting words when it is first open to 
amendment (clause 9 of rule XVIII). By these methods an adverse opinion 
may be expressed without permitting the bill to consume the time of the 
House.





Sec. 431. Endorsement of the title on an engrossed 
bill.

    When the bill is engrossed the title is to be indorsed on the 
back, and not within the bill. Hakew, 250.



[[Page 234]]



  In the practice of the House and the Senate the title appears in its 
proper place in the engrossed bill, and also is endorsed, with the 
number, on the back.