Hi!
What the Senate said is that 800 hours is the MINIMUM, and that if the FAA does NOT change their rules, it AUTOMATICALLY goes to 1500 hours.
The House of Representatives (the other 1/2 of Congress, where the US laws are made) said they do NOT agree with 800 hours as a minimum, and that 1500 is the minimum.
So, when they are working on a compromise, the 800 hours is the MINIMUM floor, and they may require more hours, up to a ceiling of 1500 hours.
Either way, new First Officers will need a LOT more flight hours to reach the minimums than they do now....the minimum for a Commercial License in the US are now about 188 hours of flight time.
cliff
LFW