When a bill or resolution is before the House for its third and last “reading” for final passage, but before the Speaker orders the vote on final passage, a motion to “recommit” or send the bill back to the original authorizing committee is in order. If the rule governing the original consideration of the bill in the Committee of the Whole forbade certain amendments, thus allowing Members to avoid going on record, this is where that ends because the motion to recommit can be made “with instructions”that the bill be amended with the amendments that were not allowed to be offered earlier, and the matter be reported back immediately to the House with those amendments. (Rule XVI and XVII)
This motion is the one last chance the Minority has to get Members on record, or to kill the bill outright. A motion to recommit made without “instructions,” is not debatable, and if successful has the effect of the House killing the bill without a final vote on its passage. The House is saying that it should be sent back to the authorizing committee because it is not acceptable in its present form.
If the motion to recommit is has “instructions,” the authorizing committee that reported the bill is bound to follow those instructions. The motion is made as follows for the committee to “report the bill back to the House forthwith with the following amendment.” The text of the amendment is then reported to the House, and the motion to recommit with “instructions” is debatable for 10 minutes, equally divided between proponents and opponents. If the motion is successful, the authorizing committee does not actually meet, but the bill is then before the House as if the committee met and reported the bill with the amendment that was part of the “instructions.”
To make a motion to recommit, a member must be opposed to the bill, absolutely or at least in its present form, thus the need for amendment. A Member who offers the motion is obliged to vote against final passage of the bill if the motion to recommit fails.
A motion to recommit need not include an amendment to the bill in its instructions. The motion to recommit may also specify that additional hearings be held, or the matter be further investigated, and the authorizing committee be required to report their findings back to the House.