United States congressional conference committee

[1][2] Conference committees operate after the House and the Senate have passed different versions of a bill.

Conference committees exist to draft a compromise bill that both houses can accept.

Both houses of Congress must pass identical legislation in order for a bill to be presented to the president.

If the appeal was sustained by a majority of the Senate, it had precedential effect, eroding the rule on the scope of conference committees.

[10] The rule changed again with the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, enacted in September 2007.

Now any single senator may raise a point of order against subject matter newly inserted by the conference committee without objecting to the rest of the bill.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist once observed that the joint conference report of both Houses of Congress is considered highly reliable legislative history when interpreting a statute.

[11] Once a bill has been passed by a conference committee, it goes directly to the floor of both houses for a vote, and is not open to further amendment.

[13] The conference report must be approved by both the House and the Senate before the final bill is sent to the president.