The U.S. Constitution, which was ratified in 1788, separates the federal government into three equal, distinct branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. By creating three separate branches of government, our Founding Fathers wanted to prevent any one branch from amassing too much power. The legislative branch, which was created to represent the people, consists of the U.S. Congress. Congress, which makes the laws, is divided into two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the 50 States has two Senators, for a total of 100 Senators. There are 435 members of the House. The number of Representatives allocated to each State is based on population. Seven states currently have one Representative, and California - which has the largest population - has 53 Representatives.

1) Proposing legislation

A law begins as a bill, which is designed to address a need or solve a problem. Only Senators or Representatives can submit a bill in Congress. A Senator may introduce a bill or resolution by sending it "to the desk" in the Senate chamber or dropping it off at the Senate Cloakroom. Floor or Cloakroom staff will give the bill to the Senate Parliamentarian, who determines which to which Committee will have jurisdiction over it. Then the bill goes to the Bill Clerk, who assigns it a number (i.e. S. 123), usually determined by the order in which a bill is introduced. The House follows a similar procedure, but bills are given "H.R." numbers (i.e. H.R. 123)

2) Committee Hearings

After a bill has been referred to a committee, the committee chairman may assign it to a subcommittee for consideration. After considering the bill, the subcommittee reports its recommendations to the full committee. Whether at the subcommittee or full committee level, consideration typically consists of one or more hearings and a "mark-up," which is when committee members have an opportunity to offer amendments before voting whether to send it to the Senate or House. Committees often issue a written "report" to accompany a bill that describes the purpose of the bill, an estimate of the bill's cost, and the committee's reasons for recommending its approval. The committee may also report a bill unfavorably, but this rarely happens. In the Senate there is a process for bringing a bill to the floor without first referring it to committee, but it is used infrequently. In the House, a bill also can reach the floor through a "discharge petition."

3) Full Chamber Deliberation

In the Senate, there are no restrictions placed on a bill's consideration: each Senator has an unlimited opportunity to debate and to offer amendments to a bill -- even amendments that are not germane to the bill's subject matter. It takes a 60-vote majority to invoke cloture on a bill, which limits debate and the types of amendments that may be considered. Before most bills can be considered by the full House, they go through the House Rules Committee. The Rules Committee sets the conditions under which the bill will be considered: how long the House will debate the bill, which amendments will be permitted, and other parliamentary matters. Once the bill is on the floor, it is debated and amended (if there are sufficient votes) under the terms established by the Rules Committee.

4) Conference Committee

If the Senate and House pass different versions of the same bill, the two bills must be sent to a conference committee. The conference committee consists of members of the Senate and House who have worked on the bill in their respective chambers. When the conferees have reached agreement, they submit a report to both houses of Congress. If both the Senate and House approve the conference report, then the legislation is sent to the president.

5) The Bill Goes to the President

The president can either sign the bill into law or he can veto it. If the president takes no action within 10 days, and the Congress is in session, the bill automatically becomes law. If Congress adjourns before the 10-day period is over and the president does not sign it, the bill does not become law. This is called a "pocket veto." When a president vetoes a bill, he sends it back to the chamber that first passed it along with his reasons for vetoing it. If no action is taken by the Congress, the bill dies. But if two-thirds of the members of the Senate and House each vote to override the veto, the bill becomes law without the president's signature.

6) Judicial Review

The approval of a majority of the members of Congress and the president is no assurance that a bill conforms to the "supreme law of the land" -- the U.S. Constitution. If a person or group feels that a particular law is unconstitutional, it can be challenged in the federal court system. The federal courts, including District Courts, Circuit Courts of Appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court (which has a Chief Justice and eight associate justices), can rule that a law is unconstitutional even though Congress has passed it and the president has signed it.