In 1983 the House of Representatives defeated the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution on a vote of 278-147, six votes short of the 2/3 majority needed for adoption of constitutional amendments. A big part of the story at the time was that the ERA was scheduled for floor consideration under the suspension of the rules procedure.

What made the procedure part of the story was that 14 Members who had cosponsored the ERA failed to vote for it – citing the use of the suspension procedure as the reason. This group included 7 Republicans and 7 Democrats. Had the procedural "protest" not been a factor, the Equal Rights Amendment may well have passed the House.

Proponents of the ERA chose the suspension method in 1983 because they thought it offered protection against what they termed "killer" amendments. They made that case to then Speaker Tip O'Neill (D-MA), who agreed to schedule the ERA under suspension of the rules. However, several Members, like Cheney, had conditioned their support for the measure on their ability to offer amendments – for example, to exempt women from the draft and from combat duty.

When word began to spread that the suspension procedure would be used to prohibit amendments to the ERA, minority Republicans began an organized protest. The day before the vote, November 14, 1983, they began slowing down the House with multiple motions to adjourn and demanded roll-call votes on even minor matters all day long. The next day's debate on the ERA foretold the outcome: the procedure being used was discussed as much as the substance of the amendment itself.

The suspension of the rules procedure was designed originally for the consideration of measures of low to minimal controversy. It has been in use in the House in its current form since the 1860's. Today, almost half of all legislation considered on the House floor comes up under suspension of the rules. The procedure allows only 40 minutes of debate, equally divided between the two sides. No amendments are permitted from the floor, nor may any points of order be made. Adoption of the suspension motion results in passage of the legislation, but requires a 2/3 majority vote. Rejection of the suspension motion does not defeat the legislation, but leaves it where it is – on the House floor calendar or perhaps still in committee. However, the failed vote is usually enough to kill an effort politically.

The House considers and votes on multiple measures under suspension of the rules every Monday and every Tuesday of virtually every week the House is in session. The House mostly glides through them -- it has long accepted suspension of the rules as an expedited procedure suitable for less controversial measures. One of the problems in 1983 was that the ERA was very controversial -- not the usual type of measure selected for the suspension process. Members protesting the procedure cited the fact that they would not be able to amend the language in any way, and criticized the limited time they would have to debate what was a very hot topic.