Often, different versions of the same bill will rise through both chambers. The bicameralism requirement necessitates that both the House and the Senate agree upon the same bill version. When dealing with complex, different bill versions, Congress will sometimes create a conference committee in which a group of leaders from each chamber will work together to create a new version of the bill that functions as a compromise of all the prior versions.
Conference report: Conference reports, much like committee reports, can be extremely useful in determining legislative intent. Conference reports are generated during the conference committee markup session and generally include a detailed, line-by-line analysis of the bill.
New bill drafts: If a conference committee decides to create an entirely new bill, that bill draft often retains language the committee cherry-picked from the different bills. Compare the differences between the bill versions for a better understanding of congressional intent.
Conference reports:
New bill drafts:
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