"All legislative
Powers" granted to the Federal government by the Constitution, as stated
in Article I, Section I, are vested in a Congress of the United States, which
shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Legislation referred to the Senate Committee
on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry:
(Note: these links exit the U.S. Senate web site, and connect directly to
the Library of Congress' Thomas search results)
Current Session (109th
Congress)
Previous Sessions: (108th) (107th) (106th) (105th) (104th) (103rd) (102nd) (101st) (100th) (99th) (98th) (97th) (96th) (95th)
Search for current legislative activity by
bill number.
Compilations of agricultural law are an unofficial listing
alphabetically and by subject of public
laws enacted.
Several thousand bills and resolutions are referred to committees during each 2-year Congress. Committees select a small percentage for consideration, and those not addressed often receive no further action. The bills that committees report help to set the Senate’s agenda.
When a committee or subcommittee favors a measure, it usually takes
four actions.
First it asks relevant executive agencies for written comments on the measure.
Second, it holds hearings to gather information and views
from non-committee experts. At committee hearings, these witnesses summarize
submitted statements and then respond to questions from the senators.
Third, a committee meets to perfect the measure through amendments, and
non-committee members sometimes attempt to influence the language.
Fourth,
when language is agreed upon, the committee sends the measure back to
the full Senate, usually along with a written report describing its purposes
and provisions.