How Do Congressional Conference Committees Work?

A Congressional Conference Committee is composed of members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and it is charged with resolving disagreements on a specific piece of legislation.

Conference committees are created after the House and the Senate pass different versions of a piece of legislation. Conference committees must negotiate a compromise bill that will be voted upon by both Chambers of Congress. This is because both houses of Congress must pass identical legislation for the bill to become law, according to the U.S. Constitution.

The conference committee is usually composed of the senior members of the respective House and Senate standing committees that originally considered the legislation. Each Congressional chamber determines its number of conferees; there is no requirement that the number of conferees from the two chambers be equal.

After deliberation, the conferees may make one or more recommendations. For example, the committee may recommend (1) that the House recede from all or certain of its amendments; (2) that the Senate recede from its disagreement to all or certain of the House amendments and agree to the same; or (3) that the conference committee is unable to agree in all or in part. Usually, however, there is a compromise.

In order to conclude its business, a majority of both House and Senate delegations to the conference must sign the conference report.

The conference report proposes new legislative language, which is presented as an amendment to the original bill passed by each chamber. The conference report also includes a joint explanatory statement, which documents, among other things, the legislative history of the bill.

The conference report proceeds directly to the floor of each chamber for a vote; it cannot be amended. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 limits Senate debate on conference reports on budget reconciliation bills to 10 hours.


Source: Thomas, LOC