[United States Senate Manual, 112th Congress]
[S. Doc. 112-1]
[Standing Rules of the Senate]
[Pages 52-55]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


        28                           RULE XXVIII

                    CONFERENCE COMMITTEES; REPORTS; OPEN MEETINGS

      28.1      1.\34\ 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.
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                \34\ As amended by S. Res. 28, 99-2, Feb. 27, 1986.
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     28.2a      2. (a) \35\ 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.
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                \35\ Paragraphs 2 and 3 amended pursuant to Pub. L. 110-
            81, Sep. 14, 2007, and paragraphs 4-5 were added.
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     28.2b      (b) 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

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            is rejected or shall be recommitted to the committee of 
            conference if the House of Representatives has not already 
            acted thereon.
     28.2c      (c) If new matter is inserted in the report, a point of 
            order may be made against the conference report and it shall 
            be disposed of as provided under paragraph 4.
     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--
                        (1) it shall be in order for the conferees to 
                    report a substitute on the same subject matter;
                        (2) the conferees may not include in the report 
                    matter not committed to them by either House; and
                        (3) the conferees may 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), a point of order may be made against the 
            conference report and it shall be disposed of as provided 
            under paragraph 4.
     28.4a      4. (a) A Senator may raise a point of order that one or 
            more provisions of a conference report violates paragraph 2 
            or paragraph 3, as the case may be. The Presiding Officer 
            may sustain the point of order as to some or all of the 
            provisions against which the Senator raised the point of 
            order.
     28.4b      (b) If the Presiding Officer sustains the point of order 
            as to any of the provisions against which the Senator raised 
            the point of order, then those provisions against which the 
            Presiding Officer sustains the point of order shall be 
            stricken. After all other points of order under this 
            paragraph have been disposed of--
                        (1) the Senate shall proceed to consider the 
                    question of whether the Senate should recede from 
                    its amendment to the House bill, or its disagreement 
                    to the amendment of the House, and concur with a 
                    further amendment, which further amendment shall 
                    consist of only that portion of the conference 
                    report that has not been stricken;
                        (2) the question in clause (1) shall be decided 
                    under the same debate limitation as the conference 
                    report; and
                        (3) no further amendment shall be in order.
     28.5a      5. (a) Any Senator may move to waive any or all points 
            of order under paragraph 2 or 3 with respect to the pending

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            conference report by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of 
            the Members, duly chosen and sworn. All motions to waive 
            under this paragraph shall be debatable collectively for not 
            to exceed 1 hour equally divided between the Majority Leader 
            and the Minority Leader or their designees. A motion to 
            waive all points of order under this paragraph shall not be 
            amendable.
     28.5b      (b) All appeals from rulings of the Chair under 
            paragraph 4 shall be debatable collectively for not to 
            exceed 1 hour, equally divided between the Majority and the 
            Minority Leader or their designees. An affirmative vote of 
            three-fifths of the Members of the Senate, duly chosen and 
            sworn, shall be required in the Senate to sustain an appeal 
            of the ruling of the Chair under paragraph 4.
      28.6      6.\36\ 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.
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                \36\ Paragraphs 6 through 8 renumbered pursuant to Pub. 
            L. 110-81, Sep. 14, 2007, and paragraph 9 was added.
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      28.7      7. 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.
      28.8      8. 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.
     28.9a      9. (a)(1) It shall not be in order to vote on the 
            adoption of a report of a committee of conference unless 
            such report has been available to Members and to the general 
            public for at least 48 hours before such vote. If a point of 
            order is sustained under this paragraph, then the conference 
            report shall be set aside.

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                (2) For purposes of this paragraph, a report of a 
            committee of conference is made available to the general 
            public as of the time it is posted on a publicly accessible 
            website controlled by a Member, committee, Library of 
            Congress, or other office of Congress, or the Government 
            Printing Office, as reported to the Presiding Officer by the 
            Secretary of the Senate.
     28.9b      (b)(1) This paragraph may be waived in the Senate with 
            respect to the pending conference report by an affirmative 
            vote of three-fifths of the Members, duly chosen and sworn. 
            A motion to waive this paragraph shall be debatable for not 
            to exceed 1 hour equally divided between the Majority Leader 
            and the Minority Leader or their designees.
                (2) An affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members, 
            duly chosen and sworn, shall be required to sustain an 
            appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised 
            under this paragraph. An appeal of the ruling of the Chair 
            shall be debatable for not to exceed 1 hour equally divided 
            between the Majority and the Minority Leader or their 
            designees.
     28.9c      (c) This paragraph may be waived by joint agreement of 
            the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader of the Senate, 
            upon their certification that such waiver is necessary as a 
            result of a significant disruption to Senate facilities or 
            to the availability of the Internet.