    [United States Senate Manual, 107th Congress]
    [S. Doc. 107-1]
    [Standing Rules of the Senate]
    [Pages 50-52]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                         RULE XXVIII

            28          CONFERENCE COMMITTEES; REPORTS; OPEN MEETINGS

          28.1      1.\23\ The presentation of reports of committees of
                conference shall always be in order when available on each
                Senator's desk except when the Journal is being read or a
                question of order or a motion to adjourn is pending, or
                while the Senate is voting or ascertaining the presence of a
                quorum; and when received the question of proceeding to the
                consideration of the report, if raised, shall be immediately
                put, and shall be determined without debate.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    \23\ As amended by S. Res. 28, 99-2, Feb. 27, 1986.

    [[Page 51]]

          28.2      2. Conferees shall not insert in their report matter not
                committed to them by either House, nor shall they strike
                from the bill matter agreed to by both Houses. If new matter
                is inserted in the report, or if matter which was agreed to
                by both Houses is stricken from the bill, a point of order
                may be made against the report, and if the point of order is
                sustained, the report is rejected or shall be recommitted to
                the committee of conference if the House of Representatives
                has not already acted thereon.
         28.3a      3. (a) In any case in which a disagreement to an
                amendment in the nature of a substitute has been referred to
                conferees, it shall be in order for the conferees to report
                a substitute on the same subject matter; but they may not
                include in the report matter not committed to them by either
                House. They may, however, include in their report in any
                such case matter which is a germane modification of subjects
                in disagreement.
         28.3b      (b) In any case in which the conferees violate
                subparagraph (a), the conference report shall be subject to
                a point of order.
          28.4      4. Each report made by a committee of conference to the
                Senate shall be printed as a report of the Senate. As so
                printed, such report shall be accompanied by an explanatory
                statement prepared jointly by the conferees on the part of
                the House and the conferees on the part of the Senate. Such
                statement shall be sufficiently detailed and explicit to
                inform the Senate as to the effect which the amendments or
                propositions contained in such report will have upon the
                measure to which those amendments or propositions relate.
          28.5      5. If time for debate in the consideration of any report
                of a committee of conference upon the floor of the Senate is
                limited, the time allotted for debate shall be equally
                divided between the majority party and the minority party.
          28.6      6. Each conference committee between the Senate and the
                House of Representatives shall be open to the public except
                when managers of either the Senate or the House of
                Representatives in open session determine by a rollcall vote
                of a majority of those managers present, that all or part of
                the remainder of the meeting on the day of the vote shall be
                closed to the public.

    [[Page 52]]