Chapter 7

1. Chapter 7 Congress at Work

2. 1,000 of bills go to Congress every session, only about 100 are made into laws. ..why do you think that is? • How are bills killed? • Most die in committees • No votes • Vetoed by the President

3. 2 types of bills • Private Bills- deal with individual ppl or places. Recently only 100 of 12,000 were private. Claims against a problem or immigration. • Public Bills-deal with general matters and apply to the entire nation. • Ex) tax cuts, national health insurance, gun control

4. 3 types of Resolutions • To make a policy on an unusual matter • Simple resolution- covers matters affecting only one house of Congress. • Joint resolution- covers matter affecting both houses. • EX) to clarify something in a bill already voted on, or correct something. Also can be if they want to amend the const. but does not require the presidents siganture • Concurrent resolutions-needs both houses but a law not needed. • EX) express congess’ opinoin on something. • http://www.gpoaccess.gov/bills/glossary.html

5. HOW DOES A BILL BECOME A LAW?!?!?!

6. Who can introduce a bill? CAN I?! • Idea can come from a citizen, interest group or executive branch. • ½ are from the exec branch • Bill are drafted by LA’s and lawyers but only a member of congress can introduce a bill.

7. Step 1- Introducing • House • Congressman drops the bill into the hopper, a box near the clerk’s desk. • Senate • Presiding officer must first recognize the senator, who then formally presents the bill As soon as the bill is introduced, it is given a title and # and then printed and distributed to lawmakers. EX) H.R. 1 AND S.1

8. Step 2-Committee Action • Once a bill is sent to a committee they can either let it “die” by not touching it, or kill it by a majority vote. • If they decide to take it on they can keep it in their committee or send it to a sub-committee. • Why do you think other senators and congressman accept what the committee says about a bill?

9. Step 3- Committee Hearings • Committee members hear testimony from experts on the bill. • Ex) Jewel about homelessness • Committee chairs are very influential and can use this time to sway the public to like or dislike the bill. • Committee’s have begun to use skype to hear witness statements and the public is able to view any hearing online or on t.v.

10. Step 4-Markup Session • If they like the bill they will have a mark-up session to go through each line and decide to keep it, toss it or change it. A majority opinion for all of these is essential.

11. Step 5- Reporting a bill • When the committee is done “marking it up” they will vote on weather to report the bill. • In their report they list: • The bill • Their mark-ups • Gives their opinion on the bill • Reporting it means they send it to the House and Senate to vote on. • Do they report a bill if they vote no on it?

12. Step 6- Debating and Amending Bills • Introduced and read again by clerk. • Usually only a few lawmakers will debate it since it has been highly debated already during ___________? • Amendments can be big changes or just typographical changes • Lawmakers can amend the bill with majority vote of members present. • ****If a lawmaker wants to kill a bill it can load it up with amendments and that takes a while so it will “die”.

13. Step 7-Voting on the Bill • Need a quorum to vote on a bill. (majority have to be there) • Bill is read for the 3rd reading and then a vote is taken. Majority is needed to pass it. • 3 ways of voting: • Voice Vote -“aye” or “no” @ same time (yikes) • Standing vote, or division vote- stand up for “aye” stand up for “no” • Roll call vote-each member says “aye” or “no” when their name is called in alphabetical order. • House of Rep’s use a 4th method called the recorded vote where they record on a computer and its shown. Saves time in calling out 435 names. What year do you think they came up with this?

14. Step 8-Conference Committee Action • To make a bill a law, it must pass the exact same way in both houses. so, if the verbiage differs they… • Send a member from the committee it was brought up in to a conference committee to iron out the details. • Once they agree on all the changes, they write a report and vote on it, it must pass a majority vote to be written.

15. Step 9- Presidential Action on Bills • “Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a Law, be presented to the President of the United States” • Article 1, Sections 7 of the Consitutution • If the President signs the bill, it becomes law! • If it sits on desk for 10 days and session ends, it dies • OR if it sits on his desk for 10 days and congress is still in session is becomes a law! • Usually the President signs it  Why?

16. Ways to veto • Presidential Veto- sends it back and explains why he vetoed it. • Pocket Veto- sits on his desk for 10 days • Congressional Override to veto- 2/3 members of congress to override a Presidential veto. (rarely happens) • Line-item veto-takes out certain lines while keeping the rest of the bill. Ex)spending and tax items.

17. Step 10-Registering Laws • Registered with the National Archives and Records Service • Labeled as a public or private law and assigned a #. • EX) Public Law 187 under the 105th Congress is registered as PL105-187. • Law is added to the U.S. Code of current federal laws

18. Tracking Legislation! • http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php