<P> Committees do not change the texts of the bills they mark up . Instead, committees vote on amendments that their members want to recommend that the House adopt when the House considers the bill on the floor . The committee concludes a markup not by voting on the bill as a whole, but by voting on a motion to order the bill reported to the House with whatever amendments the committee has approved . A majority of the committee must be present when this final vote occurs . For all other stages of markups, committees may set its own quorum requirements, so long as that quorum is at least one - third of the committee's membership . </P> <P> Like the Speaker of the House, committee chairs are responsible for maintaining order and for enforcing proper procedure, at their own initiative or by ruling on points of order that other committee members make . Chairs also frequently respond to questions about procedure in the form of parliamentary inquiries . </P> <P> A committee may report a bill back to the House without amendment, with several amendments, or with an amendment in the nature of a substitute that proposes an entirely different text for the bill . Alternatively, a committee may report a new or "clean" bill on the same subject as the bill (or other text) that it has marked up . </P> <P> State governments and various kinds of municipalities also markup legislation and the process varies by locality . In some, the legislative branch marks up the legislation (or budget since it is a piece of legislation) by deleting parts and adding sections, etc . </P>

When does a committee hold a markup session what is the purpose of this session