legislative amendments

Amendments modify legislation in a variety of ways. Amendments can add new language, strike out certain provisions, or otherwise revise and improve a bill to gain enough votes to win its passage. After the sponsors have introduced a bill, other members will offer amendments to make it more acceptable to them. Lobbyists for private groups and the executive branch will also encourage amendments to make a bill more to their liking. Most amendments are added in committee, but others are added on the floor or later in the conference committee. All amendments must be voted on by the full Senate and House before becoming part of the bill.

Opponents use amendments to weaken a bill's initial purpose. They may offer amendments that would offend enough legislators to defeat the entire bill. Those seeking to filibuster against a bill, to delay it in debate, will pile on numerous technical amendments, changing a word or just the punctuation, in order to extend the debate and delay or defeat the bill's final passage. Even after a bill becomes law, future legislation may amend it. Many bills that Congress enacts are really amendments to previous legislation.

See also Committees, congressional; Germaneness