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 105th
Congress. To help you understand the information and how it interrelates,
a very brief overview of the legislative process within the House of Representatives
and Senate 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. Senate bills are similarly designated
with the letter "S" followed by a number. 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 or Senate may introduce a bill
at any time while the House or Senate is in session by simply placing it in
the "hopper" provided for the purpose at the side of the Clerk's
desk in the 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.
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 and Senate 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).
House and Senate Floor Consideration
Consideration of a measure by the full House or Senate can be a simple
or very complex operation. In general a measure is ready for consideration
by the full House or Senate 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 the House or Senate Votes by Bill number, roll call vote number or words
describing the reason for the vote.
Votes in the House and Senate 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.
