Congress Logs New Bills and Enrolled Measures Before Both Chambers Recess

WASHINGTON — Congress had a short procedural day Oct. 15, with neither the House nor the Senate holding a recorded floor vote or debating legislation before adjourning until Oct. 19.

The House adjourned at 11:04 a.m., four minutes after convening, and was scheduled to return at 10 a.m. Oct. 19. The Senate adjourned at 9:30:27 a.m., about 27 seconds after convening, and was scheduled to return at 9 a.m. 1 2

The House did record formal progress for 21 bills that had already cleared both chambers. It received notice that the Senate had passed the 21 House bills without amendment, then recorded that Speaker pro tempore Houchin had signed their enrolled versions. 3 4

An enrolled bill is the final official copy prepared after the House and Senate agree on the same text. The Speaker’s signature is part of the process of sending a bill to the president. It does not, by itself, mean the president has approved the bill or that it has become law.

The 21 measures included the Common Cents Act, which would stop producing pennies for general circulation while keeping them legal tender; the Mystic Alerts Act, concerning satellite transmission of emergency alerts; and a bill reauthorizing programs that support ALS and other neurodegenerative-disease therapies through fiscal year 2031. Other bills concerned bankruptcy eligibility, Medicare payment rules for manual wheelchairs, federal contracting requirements, veterans’ facilities, criminal-history records for peace-officer standards agencies and tax deadlines for certain Americans detained or held hostage abroad. 4

The House also introduced H.R. 10810 through H.R. 10839 and H.J. Res. 219, then referred them to committees. The new proposals included a National Patient Safety Board; disclosure requirements for political advertisements using generative artificial intelligence; a tax credit for certain child care providers serving people with developmental disabilities; limits on government use of automated license-plate readers; mortgage insurance for certain first-time homebuyers; a review of fuel-economy standards; advanced-manufacturing training pilots; and steps to reduce heat-island effects and ground-level ozone pollution from federal facilities. H.J. Res. 219 proposed a constitutional amendment requiring federal judges to be natural-born U.S. citizens. 5

Introduction and committee referral begin consideration of a proposal; they are not passage. The day’s actions therefore recorded bills at different stages of the process, but neither chamber made a floor decision on the new measures.