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The Bill is Referred to the Senate
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When a bill passes in the House, it must also pass in the Senate
in order to become a law. The two houses of Congress make up the
bicameral legislature, part of a system of checks and balances
that ensures that laws are created democratically.
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Once the bill and its amendments has been officially passed by the House and
certified by the Clerk, it is said to be "engrossed."
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In the Senate, the bill again may be sent to a committee for
study or markup.
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Members may choose to ignore the bill and continue to work on
their own legislation.
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Members may vote to pass or not to pass the bill.
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If the bill passes with different language, it must be sent for
review to a conference committee, which is a committee made up
of members from both the House and the Senate.
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Differences must be agreed upon before the bill is sent to the
President for signature. At this point the bill is
"enrolled."
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The THOMAS website logs the latest major action on the bill
under "Bill Status."
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