Both the House and Senate have internal rules encouraging the separation of money and policy decisions. These rules stem from the principle that the process through which the activities of government are chosen should be distinct from the process through which those activities are funded. For activities funded through the annual appropriations process (referred to as discretionary spending), Congress differentiates between authorizations and the appropriations. Authorizations comprise substantive law establishing government entities, activities, or programs, while appropriations provide budget authority to fund government agencies or programs by allowing them to obligate funds. Under the rules of the House and Senate, legislative provisions and appropriations for purposes not authorized by law typically may not be included in appropriations measures. These rules were formally established in both chambers during the mid-1800s to address concerns with delays in enacting appropriations due to the inclusion of extraneous legislative matters that tended to provoke controversy. As currently provided in House Rule XXI, the House bars legislative provisions from being reported in general appropriations bills; amendments to general appropriations bills containing language that would add to or alter existing law are also prohibited. Clause 5 of House Rule XXII also prohibits the inclusion of legislative language in conference reports that accompany appropriations acts. Senate Rule XVI additionally restricts legislative language not contained within existing law from being added via amendment to a general appropriations bill, unless it is determined to be germane to a legislative provision previously added by the House. These rules are enforced on the House and Senate floor through points of order, but if legislative provisions are enacted as a part of an appropriations measure, they have the full force of the law. Although House and Senate rules restrict legislating on appropriations, policy matters may be included through limitation provisions. Limitations within appropriations measures are provisions that negatively restrict the amount, purpose, or availability of funds without changing existing law. The effect of these provisions is to limit the actions for which funds may be used through the capping or outright denial of funds for specific purposes. Proper limitations are distinct from legislative provisions because they do not have the effect of either making new law or changing existing law. As a result, limitation provisions, which define the purposes for which budget authority may not be used without also affecting a recipient's discretion under other laws, have frequently been included within the text of appropriations bills reported by the committee or added by amendments on the floor. The allowability of limitations under the rules of the House and Senate is based upon the principle that although Congress may authorize an activity, it is under no obligation to fund that activity. Congress can therefore choose to specify those purposes for which funds are not to be used, even if that purpose has been previously authorized. The distinction between legislative provisions and funding limitations has been developed and refined over time based on various rulings that establish what types of provisions are allowable. Early debates over the permissibility of limitation provisions centered on the question of "[whether] the proposed limitation might be construed by the executive or administrative officer as a modification of statute [or] a change in existing law." So, although a House floor amendment to the FY1910 fortifications appropriations bill stipulating "that all material purchased under the foregoing provision of this act shall be of American manufacture" was ruled by the chair to be out of order, that same amendment, rephrased by unanimous consent as, " Provided , That no money appropriated by this act shall be expended except for goods of American manufacture," was allowed because it no longer contained an affirmative direction to the recipient of the funds. In more recent years, as the precedents regarding limitations have become more nuanced, parliamentary determinations of legislative language have stemmed from a number of principles related to the imposition of new duties upon the recipient of funds, changes in agency discretion, or whether the provision mandates action contrary to law. The goal of this report is to clarify aspects of the legislative process concerning the inclusion of limitations in appropriations measures under the rules of the House and Senate. This report begins by explaining the contrasting procedural contexts that influence the consideration of limitation provisions in appropriations measures on the House and Senate floor. Next, it defines the two forms of limitations that have been allowed under House and Senate precedents, with examples of previous purposes that have been allowed. This report then proceeds to identify the variety of substantive challenges that exist in structuring a limitation provision so that it does not constitute legislative language and thereby violate House and Senate rules. Finally, this report concludes by discussing the effect of points of order during floor consideration and the burden of proof that exists for proponents of limitation provisions to successfully overcome procedural objections. Although many of the examples of both proper and improper limitations used in this report are from older precedents, they nevertheless remain applicable to House and Senate rules in this area. Precedents regarding limitations are also considerably more numerous in the House than the Senate. One reason for this is that, unlike the House, the Senate has no specific rules governing the consideration of limitations beyond those that prohibit legislative language in appropriations acts. In addition, the Senate occasionally allows legislative language to be inserted in an appropriations act if it is determined by a majority of Senators to be germane to legislative language already included by the House in the bill. The Senate has previously relied, in at least once instance, on House precedents for defining an acceptable limitation, which resulted in the chair upholding a point of order against a limitation as being legislative in nature. Additionally, the parliamentarian's discussion of what constitutes a proper limitation contained in Riddick ' s Senate Procedure occasionally uses House precedents to clarify the types of provisions that have been allowed as limitations. This report will therefore rely primarily on precedents from the House to help define and illustrate proper limitation provisions. Areas where the House and Senate diverge in their understanding of, or approach to, what constitutes a limitation will be noted as they occur. This report should be read with several caveats in mind. First, it does not take account of every ruling that has been made and does not address every contingency that might arise. Second, unanimous consent agreements in the Senate and special rules in the House can be used to set aside each chamber's respective rules and customary procedures relating to both limitations and legislation on appropriations measures. Third, the House and Senate parliamentarians are the advisers to the presiding officers on what constitutes a proper limitation within the appropriations context. Although this report may provide useful background information, it should not be considered a substitute for consultation with the parliamentarian and his or her associates on specific procedural problems and opportunities. The rules of the House and Senate with respect to limitations are enforced during floor consideration of general appropriations measures. Although these rules generally encourage the separation between policy and money decisions in the area of appropriations, the procedural approach of each chamber differs in three significant ways with respect to the consideration of limitations and the exclusion of legislative provisions. The first area of contrast is the extent to which legislative provisions are allowed as committee or floor amendments. The second area of contrast is whether chamber rules designate a separate set of procedures for the consideration of limitation amendments. The third area of contrast relates to the allowability of legislative provisions within conference reports. In the House, the annual appropriations bills are originated by the Committee on Appropriations. House Rule XIII, clause 5 provides for consideration of appropriations measures, allowing an appropriations bill to be brought directly to the floor once it has been reported by the Appropriations Committee. For at least the last two decades, however, most appropriations measures have been brought to the floor pursuant to a special rule that waives all points of order (with some exceptions). These measures are then considered in the Committee of the Whole under the five-minute rule for amendment, unless otherwise specified by a special rule or unanimous consent. Clause 2 of House Rule XXI provides some restrictions on the content of appropriations measures and amendments to appropriations measures that are enforced during floor consideration. With respect to legislative provisions, clause 2(b) of this rule bars the reporting of legislative provisions (except for the purpose of rescission or retrenchment) in a general appropriations bill, making such provisions subject to a point of order during floor consideration. Under clause 2(c), amendments to general appropriations bills that contain legislative language are also not in order. Effectively, this means that legislative language contained in a general appropriations bill that is considered on the floor can be stricken by a point of order without causing the bill to be recommitted. In addition, an amendment containing legislative language, even if it is structured as a limitation, is not allowed during floor consideration. A point of order may be raised against such an amendment and, if sustained, the amendment would fall. These points of order, however, are not self-enforcing and must be made by a Member during floor consideration to trigger a ruling from the chair. Clauses 2(c) and 2(d) of Rule XXI also stipulate a separate set of procedures for the consideration of limitation amendments. During consideration in the Committee of the Whole, the bill is read by paragraph and amendments may be offered to the paragraph currently under consideration, unless specified otherwise by a special rule or by unanimous consent. Limitations that are not contained in existing law, however, are not in order while the bill is being read for amendment. Once all sections of the bill have been read, an amendment containing a new limitation can be offered, but the majority leader (or a designee) may preempt this by offering a motion to rise and report, which has precedence over motions to amend the bill. If successful, the motion to rise and report ends further consideration of amendments because it causes the Committee of the Whole to cease consideration of the bill and report its work to the House. The effect of this rule is that the offering and consideration of limitation amendments are restricted if the motion to rise and report is successful. Special rules governing the consideration of appropriations measures also have a potential effect on limitation amendments.