Page:Robert's Parliamentary Practice.djvu/101

Rh to it. The motion may be made in this form: "I move to suspend the rules and take up the resolution on ———."

Discharge a Committee. If a question has been referred to a committee, the assembly cannot consider it so long as it is in the hands of the committee. If the committee has not yet taken up the subject, the vote referring it to the committee may be reconsidered and voted down, provided the time for making the motion to reconsider has not expired. If the vote cannot be reconsidered, the only way to get the question out of the hands of the committee is to order the committee to report at a certain time, or to discharge the committee. As this latter motion reverses action previously taken by the assembly, it requires a two-thirds vote, or a vote of a majority of the membership, for its adoption, unless the committee fails to report as ordered, or makes only a partial report, or previous notice of the motion to discharge the committee has been given, in which cases it may be adopted by a majority vote. It is debatable. The motion in case of a special committee is simply "to discharge the committee." In case of a standing committee the motion is, "to discharge the committee on ——— from the further consideration of the resolution on ———." When a committee makes its final report on a subject, if a special committee, it is automatically discharged, and if a standing committee, it is discharged from the