Voting and Quorum Procedures in the Senate Elizabeth Rybicki, Coordinator Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process August 19, 2013 for those Wondering What the Heck It All Means with Regard to the Drug Quality and Security Act

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Here is a piece from the report--


Routine Quorum Calls
Quorum calls in the Senate usually are not intended to secure the presence of Senators on the
floor. Instead, they are a useful and essential device by which the Senate can suspend its formal
proceedings temporarily. During the course of any session, Senators often “suggest the absence of
a quorum.” Later, but before the clerk has completed the alphabetical call of the roll, the Senate
agrees to a unanimous consent request to rescind the quorum call. A quorum call of this kind may
last for only moments or it may continue for an hour or more; the clerk calls the names of
Senators very slowly because it would not serve the Senate’s purposes for the call of the roll to be
completed.
Because most quorum calls are intended to suspend the Senate’s floor proceedings, Senators feel
under no obligation to come to the floor to record their presence. So long as the Senate agrees by
unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call before the last Senator’s name is called, the
Senate can resume its business, because the absence of a quorum has not actually been
demonstrated. The presumption that a majority of Senators is present remains in force unless and
until the call of the roll is completed and less than a majority of Senators have responded. Only
then would it be demonstrated that the Senator was correct when he or she “suggested” the
absence of a quorum.