A joint resolution authorizing the President to enter into negotiations with foreign governments to limit the importation of automobiles and trucks into the United States.

4 steps remain before this joint resolution could become law.

The record's latest action, on December 4, 1980: Reported to Senate from the Committee on Finance with amendment (without written report).

1. Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
2. Passage by the House
3. Passage by the Senate
4. The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.

A joint resolution travels the same road as a bill: both chambers pass it and the President signs it, and it then has the same force as any other law. The label is largely a matter of custom, often used for narrow or time-limited measures.

One exception matters. A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution is not sent to the President at all. It goes to the states, and three quarters of them have to ratify it.

Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.

In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.

This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.

No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.

A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.

DONALD ALBOSTA (D-MI) introduced it on August 20, 1980, and 46 members have since signed on as cosponsors.

They come from both major parties: 37 Democrats, 9 Republicans.

Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.

It was introduced on August 20, 1980, 16822 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 16716 days ago, on December 4, 1980.

Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.