H.Res. 450, Rule for Getting the Trade Bill to Conference

H.Res. 450, Rule for Getting the Trade Bill to Conference

Order Code RS21247
June 25, 2002
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
H.Res. 450, Rule for Getting
the Trade Bill to Conference
Paul Rundquist
Specialist in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
Summary
On June 19, 2002, the House Rules Committee reported H.Res. 450, a special rule
providing for the adoption of a further House amendment to the Senate amendment to
H.R. 3009, the Andean trade bill. H.Res. 450, as reported, provides that the vote to
agree to the special rule is simultaneously a vote also (1) to agree to the Senate
amendment with a further House amendment (the text of this amendment is contained
in H.Rept. 107-518, the report accompanying the rule) and (2) to insist upon the House
amendment, disagree to the Senate amendment, and request a conference with the
Senate. This report describes the key features of this special rule and the parliamentary
effect its adoption may have.
Background on Legislative Action
House Resolution 450, the special rule reported from the Rules Committee on June
19, 2002, provides for the adoption of a further House amendment to the Senate
amendment to H.R. 3009, the Andean trade bill. The resolution serves several distinct
purposes. Under the current parliamentary situation, there is no language in H.R. 3009,
as passed by the House, on a number of trade-related subjects. The Senate amendment
to H.R. 3009 includes provisions on fast-track authority, expanded trade adjustment
assistance, and some additional items dealing with health care. Without a further House
amendment to the bill, House precedents stipulate that its conferees negotiate from the
basis of current law on those subjects included in the Senate amendment but not contained
in the original House version of H.R. 3009. This is despite the fact that the House has
passed several other trade-related measures on which the Senate has not directly acted.
The special rule incorporates into the House version of the bill trade policy
provisions taken from several House-passed bills. In addition, the amendment made in
order by special rule adds still other trade provisions that have not yet been considered by
the House. No floor amendments or debate, except on the rule itself, will be in order to
this further House amendment.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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The House Amendment Made in Order by H.Res. 450
As passed by the House, H.R. 3009 provided for low-tariff treatment of imports from
Andean countries. In amending this bill, the Senate expanded its scope significantly, to
include fast-track trade negotiating authority for the President and expanded assistance
to workers under the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program. On some of these
subjects (and on other trade-related topics), the House had previously passed separate
measures. Representative Bill Thomas (R-CA), the chairman of the House Ways and
Means Committee, requested from the House Rules Committee a rule by which the House
would further amend the Senate amendment by an amendment that included the
provisions of certain other House-passed trade measures and provisions on some subjects
that the House has not yet acted upon.
As reported by the Rules Committee, H.Res. 450 deems the House to have agreed
to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3009 with a further House amendment containing
provisions taken entirely or in part from six measures previously passed by the House:
! H.R. 3005, Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2001, as passed
by the House on December 6, 2001;
! The language of H.Con.Res. 262, as passed by the House on November
7, 2001, expressing congressional concerns regarding the World Trade
Organization’s (WTO) dispute settlement panels and the WTO Appellate
Body, and the standard of review contained in Article 17.6 of the Anti-
Dumping Agreement;
! H.R. 3009, the Andean Trade Preference and Drug Eradication Act, as
passed by the House on November 16, 2001;
! Language in section 1405 of H.R. 4775, supplemental appropriations, as
passed by the House on May 24, 2002, requiring that, for apparel made
with U.S. fabric to qualify for benefits under the Caribbean Basin
Initiative and Andean Trade Preferences Act, all dyeing and finishing of
the fabric must take place in the United States;
! H.R. 3129, the Customs Border Security Act, as passed by the House on
May 22, 2002; and
! H.R. 3010, extension of the Generalized System of Preferences, as
reported by the Ways and Means Committee on October 16, 2001.
The amendment made in order by the special rule also contains provisions on a
number of subjects that the House has not previously considered:
! Extension of coverage and benefits under Trade Adjustment Assistance
(TAA) by:
—expanding coverage to secondary workers by covering certain suppliers;
—adding health insurance tax credits to TAA recipients and certain others;
—extending direct assistance benefits for 26 additional weeks;
—requiring the petition process to be completed in 40 instead of 60 days;

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—increasing funding for worker training from $80 to $110 million to
accommodate increased number of workers eligible under TAA;
! Authorization of judgment payments to avoid sanctions from certain
WTO dispute settlement cases; and
! Requirement that the U.S. Customs Service collect duties from importers
on a monthly basis and prohibition against deferral of duty payments
beyond the specified duty collection period.1
Authority of Conferees: Effect of H.Res. 450
In general, House and Senate conferees are free to negotiate compromises on the
topics committed to them in conference. The House-passed bill (H.R. 3009) is relatively
narrow in its scope. The Senate-passed amendment includes new subjects not now in
H.R. 3009. Normally, if a House-passed measure contained no provisions on a subject
contained in the Senate amendment to the measure, the official position of House
conferees would be to support current law in negotiations on the new subjects added to
the bill by the Senate amendment.
The special rule incorporates a number of trade measures passed by the House as
free-standing bills and incorporates them (and other new provisions) into a House
amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3009. If the special rule passes, the House
position in conference negotiations will be based instead on the new House provisions in
the further House amendment, and no longer on current law.
If the special rule is agreed to, conferees will work under established chamber rules.
Normally, House conferees are authorized to negotiate over items in dispute within the
boundaries set by “the scope of the differences” in the two versions of the bill. For
illustrative purposes, where the House bill provides $5 billion for a specific purpose and
the Senate bill provides $10 billion for the same purpose, a compromise falls within the
scope of the differences if the amount recommended by conferees falls between $5 and
$10 billion. Thus, for example, House conferees could agree to a Senate provision, or to
a modification of it, so long as the modification came within the “scope” boundaries set
by the two versions of the bill.
In some circumstances, conferees may believe it necessary to violate the House
standards on “scope” in order to reach a compromise.2 If that were to be the case, the
House managers could ask the House Rules Committee to report a special rule waiving
points of order against the conference report. Alternatively, the managers could seek to
1 Summary of provisions in the further House amendment taken from the House Rules
Committee’s Web site, available at [www.house.gov/rules/107rule3009motion.htm] (visited June
24, 2002). The full text of the amendment is printed in H.Rept. 108-518.
2 Senate limits on conferees are much less restrictive. When Senate conferees negotiate over
a second-chamber substitute amendment (as they would likely be doing on H.R. 3009), they may
agree to a compromise that is “not totally irrelevant” to either the House or Senate versions of
the bill. House scope standards would likely render such a compromise subject to a point of
order.

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bring the conference report up under a motion to suspend the rules (which has the effect
of waiving all points of order). In addition, the Senate could decide to consider the
substance of the conference compromise as a further Senate amendment to the House
amendment. No Senate point of order would lie against such an amendment.
Regular House Procedures: Effect of H.Res. 450
The rule reported from the Rules Committee is procedurally complex. It is a so-
called “hereby” rule, in which the vote to agree to the rule is also a vote to agree to the
further House amendment to the Senate amendment. No separate debate will be permitted
on the proposed House amendment. No additional amendments to the proposed House
amendment will be permitted. The rule further provides that, by adoption of the special
rule, the House shall be deemed to have disagreed to the Senate amendment, insisted on
its new amendment, and requested a conference with the Senate. It is unusual in the
House for one special rule to encompass so many parliamentary actions through one vote.
Other Parliamentary Issues
A number of other parliamentary issues may be raised in connection with House
action on H.Res. 450.
Ordering the Previous Question. This procedural motion, to be offered at the
end of debate on H.Res. 450, will have the effect of bringing the House to an immediate
vote on the rule without further debate or amendment to it. If the previous question
motion is defeated, an amendment to the rule may be offered, usually by a minority party
member of the Rules Committee. A germane amendment to the rule could alter the floor
procedures concerning H.R. 3009 and could also alter the text of the proposed further
House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3009. One hour of debate would be
provided for the amendment to the rule, and the previous question motion would again
be offered and, if agreed to, would bring to House to an immediate vote on the
Democratic amendment and, then, to a vote to adopt the rule, as amended.
Defeating the Special Rule. For H.Res. 450 to go into effect, it must be adopted
by majority vote of the House. If the rule were to fail of passage, the current status of the
trade bill would remain the same: that is, the Senate amendment to H.R. 3009 would still
be available for further House action. The Rules Committee could draft another special
rule, taking into account concerns about H.Res. 450 expressed by House Members.
Alternatively, the House could, without benefit of a special rule, go to conference without
modifying the provisions of H.R. 3009, as originally passed by the House.
Instructing Conferees. If the House agrees to H.Res. 450, it would still be in
order for a Member to offer a motion to instruct the conferees who are to be named
pursuant to the resolution. A motion to instruct conferees is in order so long as the House
has not yet appointed its conferees. Although H.Res. 450 “deems” certain parliamentary
steps leading toward conference to have occurred, it would still be in order for a Member
to offer a motion to instruct conferees, so long as the Speaker had not yet announced their
appointment. In addition, of course, further instructions could be offered if the conferees
failed to reach an agreement within 20 days of the date on which the second chamber
appointed its managers.