CONGRESSIONAL CONFERENCE COMMITTEES

When the Senate and the House pass the same bill but with some different wording or content, the two houses are to form a conference committee to iron out the differences. Perhaps few people realize that anything can happen in "committee." Many a bill has died in committee even if they passed both houses by wide margins. And the bill coming out of committee can look quite different than the one passed by both houses. I recall one year my Bureau ended up getting more out of conference than either house allotted. That is unusual as they usually split the difference, but this one time, at least, they gave us more. Once the conference committee resolves the language of the bill, it is voted on again by both houses but usually only in an up or down manner. It can be sent back to conference.

For a more detailed account of conference committees see: http://www.aacn.org/WD/Practice/Content/PublicPolicy/intro.pcms?menu=Practice