    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 119th Congress]
    [119th Congress]
    [House Document 118-187]
    [Jeffersons Manual of ParliamentaryPractice]
    [Pages 214-216]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                              sec. xxi--resolutions

    Sec. 395. Orders and resolutions of the House.

      When  the
    House commands, it is by an ``order.'' But fact, principles, and their
    own opinions and purposes, are expressed in the form of resolutions.

    [[Page 215]]

      A resolution for an allowance of money to the clerks being moved, it
    was objected to as not in order, and so ruled by the Chair; but on
    appeal to the Senate (i.e., a call for their sense by the President, on
    account of doubt in his mind, according to clause 5 of rule XXII) the
    decision was overruled. Jour., Senate, June 1, 1796. I presume the doubt
    was, whether an allowance of money could be made otherwise than by bill.

    Sec. 396. Concurrent resolutions of the two Houses.

      In   the
    modern practice concurrent resolutions have been developed as a means of
    expressing fact, principles, opinions, and purposes of the two Houses
    (II, 1566, 1567). Joint committees are authorized by resolutions of this
    form (III, 1998,  1999), and they are used in authorizing correction of
    bills agreed to by both Houses (VII, 1042), amendment of enrolled bills
    (VII, 1041), amendment of conference reports (VIII, 3308), requests for
    return of bills sent to the President (VII, 1090, 1091), authorizing the
    printing of certain enrolled bills by hand in the remaining days of a
    session (Dec. 20, 1982, p. 32875), providing for joint session to
    receive a message from the President (VIII, 3335, 3336), authorizing the
    printing of congressional documents (July 1, 1969, p. 17948); and fixing
    time for final adjournment (VIII, 3365). The Congressional Budget Act of
    1974 (P.L. 93-344) provides for the adoption by both Houses of
    concurrent resolutions on the budget that become binding on both Houses
    with respect to congressional budget procedures (see Sec. 1127, infra).
    A concurrent resolution is binding on neither House until agreed to by
    both (IV, 3379), and, because not legislative in nature, is not sent to
    the President for approval (IV, 3483). A concurrent resolution is not a
    bill or joint resolution within the meaning of clause 5(b) of rule XXI
    (requiring a three-fifths vote for approval of such a measure if
    carrying an increase in a rate of tax on income) (Speaker Gingrich, May
    18, 1995, p. 13499). In the 106th Congress the Senate neglected to adopt
    a House concurrent resolution vacating signatures of the Presiding
    Officers on an enrolled bill and laying that bill on the table as
    overtaken by another enactment (H. Con. Res. 234, adopted by the House
    on Nov. 18, 1999, p. 30719). The Congress subsequently enacted section
    1401 of the Miscellaneous Appropriations Act of 2001, which adopted that
    concurrent resolution (as enacted by P.L. 106-554). For a concurrent
    resolution requesting that the Secretary of the Senate return an
    enrolled bill to the House, providing that the Speaker's signature be
    rescinded upon its return, and providing for the subsequent reenrollment
    of the bill with a specified correction, see S. Con. Res. 63, 112th
    Congress, adopted by the House on Dec. 19, 2012, p. 17752.

    [[Page 216]]

    special appropriations for minor and incidental purposes (V, 7319),
    continuing appropriations (H.J. Res. 790, P.L. 91-33), establishing the
    date for convening of Congress (H.J. Res. 1041, P.L. 91-182), extending
    the submission date under law for transmittal of a report to Congress by
    the President (H.J. Res. 635, P.L. 97-469), and extending the
    termination date for a law (H.J. Res. 864, P.L. 91-59). At one time they
    were used for purposes of general legislation; but the two Houses
    finally concluded that a bill was the proper instrumentality for this
    purpose (IV, 3370-3373). A joint resolution has been changed to a bill
    by amendment (IV, 3374), but in the later practice it has become
    impracticable to do so.

    Sec. 397. Joint resolutions.

      Another  development of the
    modern practice is the joint resolution, which is a bill so far as the
    processes of the Congress in relation to it are concerned (IV, 3375;
    VII, 1036). With the exception of joint resolutions proposing amendments
    to the Constitution (V, 7029), all these resolutions are sent to the
    President for approval and have the full force of law. They are used for
    what may be called the incidental, unusual, or inferior purposes of
    legislating (IV, 3372), as extending the national thanks to individuals
    (IV, 3370), the invitation to Lafayette to visit America (V, 7082,
    footnote), notice to a foreign government of the abrogation of a treaty
    (V, 6270), declaration of intervention in Cuba (V, 6321), correction of
    an error in an existing act of legislation (IV, 3519; VII, 1092),
    enlargement of scope of inquiries provided by law (VII, 1040), election
    of managers for National Soldiers' Homes (V, 7336),

      Where a choice between a concurrent resolution and a joint resolution
    is not dictated by law, the House by its vote on consideration of a
    measure decides which is the appropriate vehicle (and a point of order
    does not lie that a concurrent rather than a joint resolution would be
    more appropriate to express the sense of the Congress on an issue)
    (Precedents (Wickham), ch. 6, Sec. 4.1).
    * * * * *