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Tying It All Together: Learn about the Legislative
Process
"All Legislative Powers herein granted shall
be vested in a Congress of the United States, which
shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives."
(Article I, Section 1, of the United
States Constitution)
The chief function of Congress is the making of laws.
The legislative process comprises a number of steps,
and much information is available from this page concerning
the legislation introduced and considered in the 110th
Congress. To help you understand the information and
how it interrelates, a very brief overview of the legislative
process within the House of Representatives is presented
below. There are many aspects and variations of the
process which are not addressed here. A much more in-depth
discussion and presentation of the overall process
is available in How
Our Laws Are Made. Most of the information presented
below was excerpted from that Congressional document.
Forms of Congressional Action
The work of Congress is initiated by the introduction
of a proposal in one of four principal forms: the bill,
the joint resolution, the concurrent resolution, and
the simple resolution.
- Bills
- A bill is the form used for most legislation, whether
permanent or temporary, general or special, public
or private. A bill originating in the House of Representatives
is designated by the letters "H.R.", signifying "House
of Representatives", followed by a number that it
retains throughout all its parliamentary stages.
Bills are presented to the President for action when
approved in identical form by both the House of Representatives
and the Senate.
- Joint Resolutions
- Joint resolutions may originate either in the House
of Representatives or in the Senate. There is little
practical difference between a bill and a joint resolution.
Both are subject to the same procedure, except for
a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the
Constitution. On approval of such a resolution by
two-thirds of both the House and Senate, it is sent
directly to the Administrator of General Services
for submission to the individual states for ratification.
It is not presented to the President for approval.
A joint resolution originating in the House of Representatives
is designated "H.J.Res." followed by its individual
number. Joint resolutions become law in the same
manner as bills.
- Concurrent Resolutions
- Matters affecting the operations of both the House
of Representatives and Senate are usually initiated
by means of concurrent resolutions. A concurrent
resolution originating in the House of Representatives
is designated "H.Con.Res." followed by its individual
number. On approval by both the House of Representatives
and Senate, they are signed by the Clerk of the House
and the Secretary of the Senate. They are not presented
to the President for action.
- Simple Resolutions
- A matter concerning the operation of either the
House of Representatives or Senate alone is initiated
by a simple resolution. A resolution affecting the
House of Representatives is designated "H.Res." followed
by its number. They are not presented to the President
for action.
For more information on bills and resolutions see Forms
of Congressional Action in How
Our Laws Are Made.
Introduction and Referral to Committee
Any Member in the House of Representatives may introduce
a bill at any time while the House is in session by
simply placing it in the "hopper" provided for the
purpose at the side of the Clerk's desk in the House
Chamber. The sponsor's signature must appear on the
bill. A public bill may have an unlimited number of
co-sponsoring Members. The bill is assigned its legislative
number by the Clerk and referred to the appropriate
committee by the Speaker, with the assistance of the
Parliamentarian. The bill is then printed in its introduced
form, which you can read in Bill
Text. If a bill was introduced today, summary information
about it can be found in Bill
Status Today
An important phase of the legislative process is the
action taken by committees. It is during committee
action that the most intense consideration is given
to the proposed measures; this is also the time when
the people are given their opportunity to be heard.
Each piece of legislation is referred to the committee
that has jurisdiction over the area affected by the
measure.
For more information on this step of the legislative
process see Introduction
and Reference to Committee of How
Our Laws Are Made.
Consideration by Committee
- Public Hearings and Markup Sessions
- Usually the first step in this process is a public
hearing, where the committee members hear witnesses
representing various viewpoints on the measure. Each
committee makes public the date, place and subject
of any hearing it conducts. The Committee
Meetings scheduled for today are available along
with other House
Schedules . Public announcements are also published
in the Daily Digest portion of the Congressional
Record.
A transcript of the testimony taken at a hearing
is made available for inspection in the committee
office, and frequently the complete transcript
is printed and distributed by the committee.
After hearings are completed, the bill is considered
in a session that is popularly known as the "mark-up" session.
Members of the committee study the viewpoints presented
in detail. Amendments may be offered to the bill,
and the committee members vote to accept or reject
these changes.
This process can take place at either the subcommittee
level or the full committee level, or at both.
Hearings and markup sessions are status steps noted
in the Legislative Action portion of Bill
Status.
- Committee Action
- At the conclusion of deliberation, a vote of committee
or subcommittee Members is taken to determine what
action to take on the measure. It can be reported,
with or without amendment, or tabled, which means
no further action on it will occur. If the committee
has approved extensive amendments, they may decide
to report a new bill incorporating all the amendments.
This is known as a "clean bill," which will have
a new number. Votes in committee can be found in
Committee Votes.
If the committee votes to report a bill, the Committee
Report is written. This report describes
the purpose and scope of the measure and the
reasons for recommended approval. House Report
numbers are prefixed with "H.Rpt." and then
a number indicating the Congress (currently 107).
For more information on bills and resolutions see Consideration
by Committee in How
Our Laws Are Made.
House Floor Consideration
- Consideration of a measure by the full House can
be a simple or very complex operation. In general
a measure is ready for consideration by the full
House after it has been reported by a committee.
Under certain circumstances, it may be brought to
the Floor directly.
- The consideration of a measure may be governed
by a "rule." A rule is itself a simple resolution,
which must be passed by the House, that sets out
the particulars of debate for a specific bill—how
much time will allowed for debate, whether amendments
can be offered, and other matters.
- Debate time for a measure is normally divided between
proponents and opponents. Each side yields time to
those Members who wish to speak on the bill. When
amendments are offered, these are also debated and
voted upon. If the House is in session today, you
can see a summary of Current
House Floor Proceedings .
- After all debate is concluded and amendments decided
upon, the House is ready to vote on final passage.
In some cases, a vote to "recommit" the bill to committee
is requested. This is usually an effort by opponents
to change some portion or table the measure. If the
attempt to recommit fails, a vote on final passage
is ordered.
Resolving Differences
- After a measure passes in the House, it goes to
the Senate for consideration. A bill must pass both
bodies in the same form before it can be presented
to the President for signature into law.
- If the Senate changes the language of the measure,
it must return to the House for concurrence or additional
changes. This back-and-forth negotiation may occur
on the House floor, with the House accepting or rejecting
Senate amendments or complete Senate text. Often
a conference committee will be appointed with both
House and Senate members. This group will resolve
the differences in committee and report the identical
measure back to both bodies for a vote. Conference
committees also issue reports outlining the final
version of the bill.
Final Step
- Votes on final passage, as well as all other votes
in the House, may be taken by the electronic voting
system which registers each individual Member's response.
These votes are referred to as Yea/Nay votes or recorded
votes, and are available in House Votes by Bill number,
roll call vote number or words describing the reason
for the vote.
- Votes in the House may also be by voice vote, and
no record of individual responses is available.
- After a measure has been passed in identical form
by both the House and Senate, it is considered "enrolled." It
is sent to the President who may sign the measure
into law, veto it and return it to Congress, let
it become law without signature, or at the end of
a session, pocket-veto it.
Office Addresses
312 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-1947
Fax: (202) 225-4060
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Pleasanton Office
5776 Stoneridge Mall Rd. #175
Pleasanton, CA 94588
(925) 737-0727
(408) 744-0727
Fax: (925) 737-0734
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Stockton Office
2222 Grand Canal Blvd. #7
Stockton, CA 95207
(209) 476-8552
Fax: (209) 476-8587
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