Thanks for asking!
Summary of Research
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Congress recesses briefly for the Independence Day holiday, then for
the month of August. It reconvenes the day after Labor Day, for a
session to last until October. Target adjournment date is October 1st.
It is expected that Project Bioshield will face minimal delay. The
House is expected to pass the Senate version, thereby avoiding a
Conference Committee altogether.
If the measure -does- go to conference committee, those committee
meetings must, by law, be open to the public, and would be held in
Washington.
I will monitor legislative activity, and inform you here of progress
toward Presidential approval of S.15.
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Bill/Congress Watching
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You may follow the proceedings of S.15 (HR.2122) on both the House and
Senate websites. Also, the Congressional Record is published online
after the end of each legislative session. A detailed account of the
most recent seven days of activity can be accessed using the drop-down
menus on either site. You may also follow legislation by Bill.
The U.S. Senate - Records and Legislation
http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/g_three_sections_with_teasers/legislative_home.htm
House Floor - Office of the Clerk - Current Activities
http://clerk.house.gov/floorsummary/floor.html
The Library of Congress THOMAS World Wide Web system provides online
access to ongoing Congressional activity. THOMAS offers the most
useful linkage to the Congressional Record, by date.
Congressional Record for the 108th Congress
http://thomas.loc.gov/r108/r108.html
THOMAS will also provide the most recent Summary of activities on this
legislation, though its Query tool.
108th Congress (2003-2004)
http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d108query.html
The Clerk of the House maintains an extensive legislative calendaring
system. The calendars of greatest interest will be Bills In Conference
(Section 17) and Bills Through Conference (Section 18 - Updated first
legislative day of each week.)
Calendars of the U.S. House of Representatives
History of Legislation - 108th Congress, 2nd Session
Master Calendar
http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/browse-hc.html
Section 17 - Bills in Conference
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=house_calendar&docid=f:hc18.txt
Section 18 - Bills Through Conference
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=house_calendar&docid=f:hc19.txt
CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULES 2004
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Senate Schedule for 2004
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January 20 Senate convenes (Second session)
February 16 - 20 Senate not in session
February 16 Presidents' Day
February 23 Senate reconvenes
March 15 - March 19 Senate not in session
March 22 Senate reconvenes
April 12 - April 16 Senate not in session
April 19 Senate reconvenes
May 24 - 31 Senate not in session
May 31 Memorial Day (observed)
June 1 Senate reconvenes
June 28 - July 5 Senate not in session
July 4 Independence Day
July 6 Senate reconvenes
July 26 - September 6 Senate not in session - August Recess
September 6 Labor Day
September 7 Senate reconvenes
October 1 Target adjournment
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House of Representatives Schedule for 2004
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The Majority Whip, Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) maintains the House
Schedule. The schedule is presented in a month-by-month format, and
follows the same recesses as the Senate. The House refers to these
recesses as "District Work Periods."
Majority Whip - House Calendar
http://majoritywhip.house.gov/calendar.asp
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Project Bioshield Legislation in the 108th Congress
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I've located the following articles which discuss Project Bioshield
and its further progress in this congressional session. It appears
that there is a fair chance the Senate version will be adopted by the
House, thereby avoiding a conference committee. The following
references are from non-government websites. I can quote excerpts, but
for the full articles, please visit the websites themselves.
"The Senate passed its version of Project Bioshield (S. 15) on May 19.
It is expected the House will adopt this version without objection,
readying it to be signed by the president. Its provisions closely
mirror those in the House-passed version."
Association of American Medical Colleges
http://www.aamc.org/advocacy/library/laborhhs/labor0022.htm
"IT IS EXCEEDINGLY rare these days to find something that the House
and the Senate, the Republicans and the Democrats, can all agree on.
But after the Senate's final passage of the Project Bioshield bill
last week -- by a vote of 99 to 0 -- it seems that there really is
near-unanimous, bipartisan support for speeding up development and
stockpiling of the vaccines, antidotes and diagnostic devices that
could be used to deter or help cope with a biological terrorist attack
in the United States. "
Washington Post - Project BioShield - Op Ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50594-2004May23.html
"After a long delay, the US Senate last week (May 19) unanimously
passed the "Project BioShield Act of 2004" (S 15), the White House's
plan to accelerate development and production of new vaccines and
countermeasures against bioweapons. The House, which had passed a
similar bill last year, is expected to reconcile differences quickly
and send the measure to President Bush for his signature."
The Scientist - Bioshield Enactment in Sight
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20040524/03
"The Senate, on a 99-0 vote, approved "Project BioShield" legislation
to pay for research, production and stockpiling of vaccines and
antidotes for bioterror agents. The House already has approved the
legislation, and lawmakers on both sides say they hope to soon have it
to President Bush for his signature."
Military.com
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_chemical_052004,00.html
CONFERENCE COMMITTEES
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AUTHORITY OF CONFEREES
----------------------
"The conference committee is sometimes popularly referred to as the
"Third House of Congress". Although the managers on the part of each
House meet together as one committee they are in effect two separate
committees, each of which votes separately and acts by a majority
vote. For this reason, the number of managers from each House is
largely immaterial.
The House conferees are strictly limited in their consideration to
matters in disagreement between the two Houses. Consequently, they may
not strike out or amend any portion of the bill that was not amended
by the other House. Furthermore, they may not insert new matter that
is not germane to or that is beyond the scope of the differences
between the two Houses. Where the Senate amendment revises a figure or
an amount contained in the bill, the conferees are limited to the
difference between the two numbers and may neither increase the
greater nor decrease the smaller figure. Neither House may alone, by
instructions, empower its managers to make a change in the text to
which both Houses have agreed.
When a disagreement to an amendment in the nature of a substitute is
committed to a conference committee, managers on the part of the House
may propose a substitute that is a germane modification of the matter
in disagreement, but the introduction of any language in that
substitute presenting specific additional matter not committed to the
conference committee by either House is not in order. Moreover, their
report may not include matter not committed to the conference
committee by either House. The report may not include a modification
of any specific matter committed to the conference committee by either
or both Houses if that modification is beyond the scope of that
specific matter as committed to the conference committee.
Under a recent reassertion of a Senate rule, Senate conferees are
bound to consider only those matters that bare a certain relevancy to
a House or Senate provision in conference.
The managers on the part of the House are under specific guidelines
when in conference on general appropriation bills. An amendment by the
Senate to a general appropriation bill which would be in violation of
the rules of the House, if such amendment had originated in the House,
including an amendment changing existing law, providing appropriations
not authorized by law, or providing reappropriations of unexpended
balances, or an amendment by the Senate providing for an appropriation
on a bill other than a general appropriation bill, may not be agreed
to by the managers on the part of the House. However, the House may
grant specific authority to agree to such an amendment by a separate
vote on a motion to instruct on each specific amendment."
Final Action on an Ammended Bill (THOMAS)
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.bysec/final.action.html#authority
By law, conference committee meetings must be public, therefore, they
eill be held in Washington, while Congress is in session.
---------------------------------
MEETINGS AND ACTIONS OF CONFEREES
---------------------------------
"The rules of the House require that one conference meeting be open,
unless the House, in open session, determines by a vote of the yeas
and nays that a meeting will be closed to the public. When the report
of the conference committee is read in the House, a point of order may
be made that the conferees failed to comply with the House rule
requiring an open conference meeting. If the point of order is
sustained, the conference report is considered rejected by the House
and a new conference is deemed to have been requested.
There are generally four forms of recommendations available to the
conferees when reporting back to their bodies: 1) The Senate recede
from all (or certain of) its amendments. 2) The House recede from its
disagreement to all (or certain of) the Senate amendments and agree
thereto. 3) The House recede from its disagreement to all (or certain
of) the Senate amendments and agree thereto with amendments. 4) The
House recede from all (or certain of) its amendments to the Senate
amendments or its amendments to Senate bill.
In most instances, the result of the conference is a compromise
growing out of the third type of recommendation available to the
conferees because one House has originally substituted its own bill to
be considered as a single amendment. The complete report may be
composed of any one or more of these recommendations with respect to
the various amendments where there are numbered amendments. In earlier
practice, on general appropriation bills with numbered Senate
amendments, because of the special rules preventing House conferees
from agreeing to Senate amendments changing existing law or
appropriations not authorized by law, the conferees often found
themselves, under the rules or in fact, unable to reach an agreement
with respect to one or more amendments and reported back a statement
of their inability to agree on those particular amendments. These
amendments were acted upon separately. This partial disagreement is
not practicable where, as in current practice, the Senate strikes out
all after the enacting clause and substitutes its own bill that must
be considered as a single amendment.
If they are unable to reach any agreement whatsoever, the conferees
report that fact to their respective bodies and the amendments may be
disposed of by motion. Usually, new conferees may be appointed in
either or both Houses. In addition, the Houses may provide a new
nonbinding instruction to the conferees as to the position they are to
take.
After House conferees on any bill or resolution in conference between
the two bodies have been appointed for 20 calendar days and 10
legislative days and have failed to make a report, a motion to
instruct the House conferees, or discharge them and appoint new
conferees is privileged. The motion can be made only after the Member
announces his intention to offer the motion and only at a time
designated by the Speaker in the legislative schedule of the following
day. Like the initial motion to instruct, the 20-day motion may not
contain argument and must remain within the scope of conference. In
addition, during the last six days of a session, it is a privileged
motion to move to discharge, appoint, or instruct House conferees
after House conferees have been appointed 36 hours without having made
a report. "
Final Action on an Amended Bill (THOMAS)
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.bysec/final.action.html#meetings
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CONFERENCE REPORTS
------------------
"When the conferees, by majority vote of each group, have reached
complete agreement or find that they are able to agree with respect to
some but not all separately numbered amendments, they make their
recommendations in a report made in duplicate that must be signed by a
majority of the conferees appointed by each body on each provision to
which they are appointed. The minority of the managers have no
authority to file a statement of minority views in connection with the
conference report. The report is required to be printed in both Houses
and must 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. The statement must be sufficiently detailed and
explicit to inform Congress of the effects of the report on the
matters committed to conference. The engrossed bill and amendments and
one copy of the report are delivered to the body that is to act first
on the report, usually, the body that agreed to the conference
requested by the other.
In the Senate, the presentation of a conference report always is in
order except when the Journal is being read, a point of order or
motion to adjourn is pending, or while the Senate is voting or
ascertaining the presence of a quorum. When the report is received,
the question of proceeding to the consideration of the report, if
raised, is immediately voted on without debate. The report is not
subject to amendment in either body and must be accepted or rejected
as an entirety. If the time for debate on the adoption of the report
is limited, the time allotted must be equally divided between the
majority and minority party. The Senate, acting first, prior to voting
on agreeing to the report may by majority vote order it recommitted to
the conferees. When the Senate agrees to the report, its managers are
thereby discharged and it then delivers the original papers to the
House with a message advising that body of its action.
A report that contains any recommendations which extend beyond the
scope of differences between the two Houses is subject to a point of
order in its entirety unless that point of order is waived in the
House by unanimous consent, adoption of a rule reported from the
Committee on Rules, or the suspension of the rules by a two-thirds
vote. In the Senate, a report exceeding the scope of conference is
likewise subject to a point of order and the Chair will use a
relevancy standard in testing the relationship of a targeted provision
to matter in the House or Senate version.
The presentation of a conference report in the House is in order at
any time, except during a reading of the Journal or the conduct of a
record vote, a vote by division, or a quorum call. The report is
considered in the House and may not be sent to the Committee of the
Whole on the suggestion that it contains matters ordinarily requiring
consideration in that Committee. The report may not be received by the
House if the required joint statement does not accompany it.
However, it is not in order to consider either: 1) a conference
report; or 2) a motion to dispose of a Senate amendment (including an
amendment in the nature of a substitute) reported in disagreement by a
conference committee, until the third calendar day (excluding
Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays unless the House is in session
on those days) after the report and accompanying statement have been
filed in the House and made available to the Members in the
Congressional Record. However, these provisions do not apply during
the last six days of the session. It is also not in order to consider
a conference report or a motion to dispose of a Senate amendment
reported in disagreement unless copies of the report and accompanying
statement, together with the text of the amendment, have been
available to Members for at least two hours before their
consideration. By contrast, it is always in order to call up for
consideration a report from the Committee on Rules on the same day
reported that proposes only to waive the availability requirements for
a conference report or a Senate amendment reported in disagreement.
The time allotted for debate on a conference report or motion is one
hour, equally divided between the majority party and the minority
party. However, if the majority and minority floor managers both
support the conference report or motion, one- third of the debate time
must be allotted to a Member who is opposed. If the House does not
agree to a conference report that the Senate has already agreed to,
the report may not be recommitted to conference. In that situation,
the Senate conferees are discharged when the Senate agrees to the
report. The House may then request a new conference with the Senate
and conferees must be reappointed.
If a conference report is called up before the House containing matter
which would be in violation of the rules of the House with respect to
germaneness if the matter had been offered as an amendment in the
House, and which is contained either: 1) in the Senate bill or Senate
amendment to the House measure (including a Senate amendment in the
nature of a substitute for the text of that measure as passed by the
House) and accepted by the House conferees or agreed to by the
conference committee with modification; or 2) in a substitute
amendment agreed to by the conference committee, a point of order may
be made at the beginning of consideration that nongermane matter is
contained in the report. The point of order may also be waived by a
special rule. If the point of order is sustained, a motion to reject
the nongermane matter identified by the point of order is privileged.
The motion is debatable for 40 minutes, one-half of the time in favor
of, and one-half in opposition to, the motion. Notwithstanding the
final disposition of a point of order made with respect to the report,
or of a motion to reject nongermane matter, further points of order
may be made with respect to the report, and further motions may be
made to reject other nongermane matter in the conference report not
covered by any previous point of order which has been sustained. If a
motion to reject has been adopted, after final disposition of all
points of order and motions to reject, the conference report is
considered rejected and the question then pending before the House is
whether: 1) to recede and concur with an amendment that consists of
that portion of the conference report not rejected; or 2) to insist on
the House amendment. If all motions to reject are defeated and the
House thereby decides to permit the inclusion of the nongermane Senate
matter in the conference report, then, after the allocation of time
for debate on the conference report, it is in order to move the
previous question on the adoption of the conference report.
Similar procedures are available in the House when the Senate proposes
an amendment to a measure that would be in violation of the rule
against nongermane amendments, and thereafter it is 1) reported in
disagreement by a committee of conference or 2) before the House and
the stage of disagreement is reached.
The numbered amendments of the Senate reported in disagreement may be
voted on separately and may be adopted by a majority vote after the
adoption of the conference report itself as though no conference had
been had with respect to those amendments. The Senate may recede from
all amendments, or from certain of its amendments, insisting on the
others with or without a request for a further conference with respect
to them. If the House does not accept the amendments insisted on by
the Senate, the entire conference process may begin again with respect
to them. One House may also further amend an amendment of the other
House until the third degree stage of amendment within that House is
reached."
Final Action on an Ammended Bill (THOMAS)
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.bysec/final.action.html#conference
Conference Committee Actions and Reports information from the Senate
perspective are also available, though essentially the same as the
House versions.
Conference Committees and Reports
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/enactment/confcomm.html
Senate and House Action on Conference Reports
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/enactment/confact.html
Signatures of Speaker and Vice President
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/enactment/signatures.html
Presidential Action -- Approval or Veto
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/enactment/presact.html
Search Strategy
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Personal Bookmarks, searches of the Congressional and Library of
Congress websites, and Google Search Terms:
project bioshield 2004
As I stated above, I will continue to monitor progress of S.15 and
report to you in Clarifications. It appears that passage during the
current congressional session is very likely.
In this Answer, I've concentrated on the specifics of the BioShield
bill, though I did give a quick look for opinions of productivity of
the current Congressional session in an election year. My quick search
indicated that such opinion and speculation is not yet a subject for
heavy discussion. I imagine that interest will be much more acute by
the time of the August recess. If you're interested in historical
research about previous election years, I'd suggest that you post a
new question, giving the opportunity to provide further analysis and
references.
If you have questions about the materials or links provided, please,
feel free to ask.
---larre |
