Editing Senate Republican Conference (section)

== "Conference" versus "caucus" ==
The Republican Conference has never been a caucus in the dictionary sense, that is, a "partisan legislative group that uses caucus procedures to make decisions binding on its members." Even during the tense years of [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], Republican senators were not bound to vote according to conference decisions. In 1867, for example, when Senator [[Charles Sumner]] of [[Massachusetts]] refused to follow conference policy on an issue, and Senator [[William P. Fessenden]] of [[Maine]] charged, "you should not have voted on the subject [in Conference] if you did not mean to be bound by the decision of the majority," Sumner retorted, "I am a Senator of the United States," and no attempt was made to discipline him. Such independence was reiterated on March 12, 1925, when a resolution introduced by Senator [[Wesley L. Jones]] of [[Washington (state)|Washington]] passed in the conference without objection:

:To make clear and beyond question the long-settled policy of Republicans that our Conferences are not caucuses or of binding effect upon those participating therein but are meetings solely for the purpose of exchanging views to promote harmony and united action so far as possible.

:Be It Resolved: That no Senator attending this Conference or any Conference held hereafter shall be deemed to be bound in any way by any action taken by such Conference, but he shall be entirely free to act upon any matter considered by the Conference as his judgment may dictate, and it shall not be necessary for any Senator to give notice of his intention to take action different from any recommended by the Conference."