Engrossed Bill, Voting Rights Act of 1965 

An engrossed bill is the certified copy of the text of the bill as it passed one chamber of Congress, and it represents the necessary step in the legislative process of transferring a bill from one chamber to another for review. The text of an engrossed bill in the House is prepared by the Enrolling Clerk, and House rules require that its accuracy is certified by the Clerk. The engrossed version of the bill is then sent to the other chamber to await action. There can also be a second engrossed version of a bill, if changes are made and the new version is passed by the other chamber. This featured document is the House’s engrossed copy of the bill for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which has been reconciled by substitute, meaning that the full text of the bill that passed the Senate (S. 1564) is being replaced by the version of the text that passed the House as H.R. 6400 on July 9, 1965, after five weeks of debate. The Constitution requires that both Houses of Congress pass identical versions of a bill before it can be enacted into Public Law by the president’s signature.