“The motion to reconsider is a distinctively American motion (it was first made the subject of a rule in the U. S. House of Representatives in 1802).
“This motion was unknown to the early British Parliament. When Parliament (the British Congress) passed an act, that act then stood as the judgment of the body until another law or supplementary act was afterward passed explaining or amending the previous act — a slow-moving and time-consuming process in the estimation of American lawmakers.“Consequently, the American love for celerity invented the motion to reconsider, and cleverly made it a mere procedural or restoratory motion. As a result, the motion to reconsider now makes possible immediate reconsideration of a question, even on the same day.” George Demeter, Demeter’s Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure 154 (1969).reconsider and enter on the minutes. Parliamentary law. To make a motion to reconsider for the purpose of suspending a vote already taken and bringing it back up at the next meeting.
— Also termed reconsider and enter; reconsider and have it entered on the minutes.
