FINAL ACTION ON AMENDED BILL
On their return to the House, the official papers relating to the amended measure are placed on the Speaker’s table to await House action on the Senate amendments. Although rarely exercised, the Speaker has the authority to refer Senate amendments to the appropriate committee or committees with or without time limits on their consideration.
If the amendments are of a minor or noncontroversial nature, any Member, usually the chairman of a committee that reported the bill, may, at the direction of the committee, ask unanimous consent to take the bill with the amendments from the Speaker’s table and agree to the Senate amendments.
At this point, the Clerk reads the title of the bill and the Senate amendments. If there is no objection, the amendments are then declared to be agreed to, and the bill is ready to be enrolled for presentation to the President.
If unanimous consent is not obtainable, the few bills that do not require consideration in the Committee of the Whole are privileged and may be called up from the Speaker’s table by motion for immediate consideration of the amendments. A simple majority is necessary to carry the motion and thereby complete floor action on the measure.
A Senate amendment to a House bill is
subject to a point of order that it must first be considered in the Committee of
the Whole, if, originating in the House, it would be subject to that point of
order. Most Senate amendments require consideration in the Committee of the
Whole and this procedure by privileged motion is seldom utilized.