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Committee Action
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The bill is referred to the appropriate committee. The 19 House
standing committees and 16 Senate committees each have
jurisdiction over different areas of public policy, such as
agriculture, education and the workforce, and international relations.
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The bill is placed on the committee's calendar.
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The committee debates on and marks up the proposed bill, and may or
may not make changes to it.
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Committee members vote to accept or reject the changes made during the markup session.
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If a bill includes many amendments, the committee may decide
to introduce a "clean bill" with a new number.
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The committee votes on the bill after it has been debated and/or amended.
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A committee may stop action, or "table" a bill it deems unwise or unnecessary.
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THOMAS, a Library of Congress website, posts the status
of the bill and updates on major action taken on
the bill. Each version of the text of a bill is
posted on THOMAS, under Text of Legislation.
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If the bill is not tabled, it will be sent either to a subcommittee
for intensive study, or reported back to the House Floor.
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High-school-aged
Congressional Pages deliver important messages to Members in the
House
Chamber. |
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