Senators voted on a motion to "table" Senate Joint Resolution 55 (S.J.Res. 55). A motion to table is a procedural tool used to permanently dispose of a proposal without ever having a final vote on its actual contents. If the motion had succeeded, the resolution would have been immediately discarded and could not be brought up again. In the Senate, tabling is often used to quickly end debate or to avoid taking a difficult stand on a controversial issue. Because this motion failed, the underlying resolution was not killed and remains on the Senate's calendar for further debate or a later vote. The outcome was determined by a bipartisan majority that voted against tabling the measure. Both the Democratic and Republican parties were split on the issue, with significant numbers of senators from both sides voting to keep the resolution alive. The resolution now moves forward in the legislative process.