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H.R. 2139 (112th): Lions Clubs International Century of Service Commemorative Coin Act (On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended)

Number:
House Vote #558 [primary source: house.gov]
Date:
Sep 10, 2012 (112th Congress)
Result:
Passed
Track Votes

This was a vote to pass a bill or agree to a resolution. It was taken under a procedure called “suspension of the rules” which is typically used to pass non-controversial bills. Votes under suspension require a 2/3rds majority. A failed vote under suspension can be taken again.

Bill:
H.R. 2139 (112th): Lions Clubs International Century of Service Commemorative Coin Act
Introduced by Rep. Peter Roskam [R-IL6] on June 3, 2011
Totals     Republican     Democrat
  Yea 376
 
 
88%
213 163
  Nay 2
 
 
0%
2 0
Present 1
 
 
0%
1 0
Not Voting 50
 
 
12%
23 27
Required: 2/3

Vote Details

Notes

Where is the Speaker’s vote?

According to current House rules, the Speaker of the House is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings, except when such vote would be decisive.” In practice, this means the Speaker of the House rarely votes and only does so when it is politically useful. When the Speaker declines to vote, he or she is simply omitted from the roll call by the House Clerk.

What’s the difference between “aye” and “yea”?

There is no meaningful difference between “aye” and “yea” (and “nay” and “no”), but the terms are used in different sorts of votes based on Congress’s long tradition of parliamentary procedure.

The House and Senate follow the U.S. Constitution strictly when it says that bills should be decided on by the “yeas and nays” (Article I, Section 7). So they literally say “yea” and “nay” when voting on bills. In the Senate, they always use these words.

The House sometimes operates under a special set of rules called the “Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union” (or “Committee of the Whole” for short), which is a sort of pseudo-committee that is made up of every congressman. During this mode of operation, the House uses the terms “aye” and “no” instead, but the meaning is the same. (See the Rules of the House, Rule XX, and House Practice in the section Voting.)