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How Legislation Is Brought to the House Floor: A Snapshot of Recent Parliamentary Practice

Description: The House of Representatives has several different parliamentary procedures through which it can bring legislation to the chamber floor. Which will be used in a given situation depends on many factors, including the type of measure being considered, its cost, the amount of political or policy controversy surrounding it, and the degree to which Members want to debate it and propose amendments. This report provides a statistical snapshot of the forms, origins, and party sponsorship of these measu… more
Date: March 9, 2011
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

How Legislation Is Brought to the House Floor: A Snapshot of Recent Parliamentary Practice

Description: The House of Representatives has several different parliamentary procedures through which it can bring legislation to the chamber floor. Which of these will be used in a given situation depends on many factors, including the type of measure being considered, its cost, the amount of political or policy controversy surrounding it, and the degree to which members want to debate it and propose amendments. This report provides a snapshot of the forms and origins of measures which, according to the L… more
Date: December 2, 2010
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

How Measures Are Brought to the House Floor: A Brief Introduction

Description: Report that presents a brief description of the five parliamentary methods used to bring proposed legislation to the House floor for consideration. These methods allow for consideration as a privileged matter, under the limited privilege of a special calendar or day, under suspension of the rules, under the terms of a special rule, or by unanimous consent.
Date: November 2, 2012
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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How Measures Are Brought to the Senate Floor: A Brief Introduction

Description: This report discusses two basic methods that are used by the Senate to bring legislation to the floor for consideration. The Senate, at the majority leader's request, grants unanimous consent to take up a matter or agrees to his motion to proceed to consider it. Because the motion to proceed is subject to debate in most circumstances, it is less frequently used. Both methods are derived from the basic premise that the Senate as a body may decide what matters it considers.
Date: November 25, 2013
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

How Measures Are Brought to the Senate Floor: A Brief Introduction

Description: This report discusses the two basic methods that are used by the Senate to bring legislation to the floor for consideration: The Senate, at the majority leader's request, (1) grants unanimous consent to take up a matter, or (2) agrees to his motion to proceed to consider it. Both methods are derived from the basic premise that the Senate as a body may decide what matters it considers. The Senate may also use the same two methods to bring up executive business (nominations and treaties).
Date: August 5, 2015
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Invoking Cloture in the Senate

Description: This report discusses cloture, the only procedure by which the Senate can vote to set an end to a debate without also rejecting the bill, amendment, conference report, motion, or other matter it has been debating.
Date: November 25, 2013
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction

Description: This report provides an introduction to the legislative process on the House floor, including limitations on debate, calendars and the order of business, modes of floor consideration, senate amendments and conference reports, voting and quorum procedures, and information about a typical day on the House floor.
Date: December 1, 2010
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Pairing in Congressional Voting: The House

Description: This report discusses the practice of "pairing" for votes in the House of Representatives. Under certain procedural circumstances, a Member who is absent during a vote on the House floor may arrange with a Member on the opposite side of a specific question (who will be present) to announce that the Member who is present is forming a "pair" with the absent Member, thus allowing the absent Member to have his intended vote recorded.
Date: August 25, 2015
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Procedural Analysis of Private Laws Enacted:1986-2013

Description: This report examines the broad distinctions among private laws in terms of their subject matter, introduction, sponsorship and co-sponsorship, referral, method of consideration, amendment, and reconciling of differences between the chambers' versions of the bill.
Date: April 9, 2013
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Resolutions of Inquiry: An Analysis of Their Use in the House, 1947-2011

Description: A resolution of inquiry is a simple resolution making a direct request or demand of the President or the head of an executive department to furnish the House with specific factual information in the Administration's possession. Under the rules and precedents of the U.S. House of Representatives, such resolutions, if properly drafted, are given a privileged parliamentary status. This means that, under certain circumstances, a resolution of inquiry can be brought up on the House floor even if th… more
Date: May 15, 2012
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Resolutions of Inquiry in the House

Description: This report examines the use of resolutions of inquiry in the House of Representatives from 1947 to 2011. A resolution of inquiry is a measure that formally calls on the executive branch to provide specified factual information to Congress.
Date: March 6, 2017
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Secret Sessions of the House and Senate: Authority, Confidentiality, and Frequency

Description: This report discusses secret, or closed, sessions of the House and Senate, which exclude the press and the public. They may be held for matters deemed to require confidentiality and secrecy--such as national security, sensitive communications received from the President, and Senate deliberations during impeachment trials. Although Members usually seek advance agreement for going into secret session, any Member of Congress may request a secret session without notice.
Date: December 30, 2014
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Senate Legislative Procedures: Published Sources of Information

Description: The Senate publishes its rules, precedents, and other related information so that Senators and their staff have convenient access to the Senate’s legislative procedures and can gauge how those procedures are likely to apply in various situations. Information about the Senate’s legislative procedures is published in four official documents. This report briefly discusses these documents.
Date: August 26, 2015
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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"Sense of" Resolutions and Provisions

Description: This report discusses specific kinds of resolutions by which Congress may formally express opinions about subjects of current national interest through freestanding simple or concurrent resolutions (called generically "sense of the House," "sense of the Senate," or "sense of the Congress" resolutions). These opinions expressing the views of one or both chambers may be included in other legislation upon introduction or subsequently added by amendment. This report identifies the various forms the… more
Date: May 16, 2016
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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"Sense of" Resolutions and Provisions

Description: This report discusses the "Sense of" resolutions, which are considered under the normal legislative processes of each chamber applicable to any other legislative vehicle.
Date: March 11, 2013
Creator: Davis, Christopher M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agency Final Rules Submitted After May 16, 2016, May Be Subject to Disapproval in 2017 Under the Congressional Review Act

Description: This report briefly discusses The Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. §§801-808), enacted as part of the 104th Congress's (1995-1996) "Contract with America," which established a special parliamentary mechanism whereby Congress can disapprove a final rule promulgated by a federal agency. With a change in the occupancy of the White House taking place in 2017, some in Congress are paying renewed attention to a parliamentary mechanism that might enable a new Congress and new President to overturn a… more
Date: February 4, 2016
Creator: Davis, Christopher M. & Beth, Richard S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Presidential Appointee Positions Requiring Senate Confirmation and Committees Handling Nominations

Description: This report identifies, by Senate committee, presidentially-appointed positions requiring Senate confirmation based on referrals as of the date of passage of S. 679, which became P.L. 112-166 on August 10, 2012.
Date: August 23, 2016
Creator: Davis, Christopher M. & Greene, Michael
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Presidential Appointee Positions Requiring Senate Confirmation and Committees Handling Nominations

Description: This report identifies, by Senate committee, presidentially appointed positions requiring Senate confirmation based on referrals as of the date of passage of S. 679, which became P.L. 112-166 on August 10, 2012.
Date: November 25, 2013
Creator: Davis, Christopher M. & Mansfield, Jerry W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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