During the legislative process, Congressional committees evaluate legislation, hold hearings, make amendments, and vote to roll legislation out of committee to the full House or Senate respectively.

A mark-up refers to the process of going through the contents of a piece of legislation in the committee process before reporting the legislation out to the larger assembly.

The process in which congressional committees and subcommittees consider a bill and finalize the language of the bill.

A committee meeting when the original bill is "marked up" by amendments [changes to the original text]. Members debate and vote on the amendments before any changes are made. Mark-Ups usually end with a vote to report the bill out of committee to the full House or Senate floor for further consideration.

process by which legislators and their staff change proposed legislation to increase Member support and the chance for passage

The review and possible revision of a piece of legislation by committee members.

After hearings, members of a committee or subcommittee examine a proposed piece of legislation line by line to determine what additions, deletions or amendments should be made. This activity is referred to as “markup.” Often, the chairman of a subcommittee drafts a starting proposal, referred to as the “chairman’s mark.

The process by which a committee or subcommittee considers a peace of legislation, offers amendments and revisions, and reports it to the House or Senate floor for consideration. IF the marked-up bill contains extensive revisions, the Committee may reintroduce it as a separate bill, thus giving it a new bill number.

Meetings where congressional committees work on language of bills or resolutions. At Budget Committee mark-ups, the House and Senate Budget Committees work on the language and numbers contained in budget resolutions and legislation affecting the congressional budget process.

action by a Congressional committee to amend and/or approve a bill; following mark-up the bill is "reported" out of committee and is ready for consideration by the entire House or Senate. Go to Top