their absence other business may be attended to, or the time may be
occupied with hearing addresses. Upon their return the chairman of the
committee (who is the one first named on the committee, and who quite
commonly, though not necessarily, is the one who made the motion to
appoint the committee), avails himself of the first opportunity to
obtain the floor,* [See Rules of Order, § 2.] when he says, "The
committee appointed to draft resolutions, are prepared to report." The
chairman tells him that the assembly will now hear the report, which is
then read by the chairman of the committee, and handed to the presiding
officer, upon which the committee is dissolved without any action of the
assembly.

A member then moves the "adoption" or

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"acceptance" of the report, or that "the resolutions be agreed to,"
which motions have the same effect if carried, namely, to make the
resolutions the resolutions of the assembly just as if the committee had
had nothing to do with them.* [A very common error is, after a report
has been read, to move that it be received; whereas, the fact that it has
been read, shows that it has been already received by the assembly.
Another mistake, less common but dangerous, is to vote that the report
be accepted which is equivalent to adopting it), when the intention is
only to have the report up for consideration and afterwards move its
adoption.]

When one of these motions is made, the chairman acts as stated above
when the resolutions were offered by a member. If it is not desired to
immediately adopt the resolutions, they can be debated, modified, their