Federal Budgetary Function, And The Oversight Function Essay

The process in which a bill becomes a law can be a lengthy one, it must go through many steps in order to become the law of the land. It is believed that this process should be a matter that every American citizen should be informed of in order to fully understand and appreciate the inner workings of congress with regard to The House of Representatives and the Senate. The steps in which a bill becomes a law is an example of the democratic way of life here in The United States. “The fact that a proposal cannot become a law without consideration and approval by both houses of congress is an outstanding virtue of our bicameral legislative system.” (Sullivan 1-2)

All laws start as bills. Any one can draft a bill, a congressman, the President, even Mr. Hughes if wanted something accomplished. Anyone can draft a bill, but only a congressman can put the bill into the bill box. From the bill box it is given to the speaker of the house, who decides which committee receives the bill for the lengthy editing process. The real power of the Speaker of the House is deciding which committee gets the bill, whether he wants the bill to pass or be thrown out. Inside the committees there are subcommittees that where a committee is a large idea, like the Senate armed forces Committee, the sub committees such as the seapower committee. after a long editing process the bill is either passed or trashed. if passed and in the house the next committee the bill goes to is the rules committee, where the date and how long the bill is argued for will be decided. If in the senate, the bill will go to the majority and minority leaders, and they decide when the bill will be brought for the entire senate. again it is argued in the senate or the house and it will either be trashed or passed here too. Finally the bill should be a law right, nope, the bill has to be passed in the other house of congress. finally once it has been passed in both compartments, if the wording is not the same a conference committee meets, with representatives from both the house and senate deciding the final wording of the bill, only

In order to fully comprehend how a bill comes into law we must first explore what a bill is, what party make up congress and what role the president play in passing a bill to a law. To begin, in legal terms, a bill is the form used for most legislation, whether permanent or temporary, general or special, public or private. It can be propose by citizens, the president or congress itself. Next, it moves to Congress. Congress is a legislative body comprising two inner bodies, the Senate and House of Representatives. The current Congressional house is composed of 535 members, 100 senators, 435 representatives and 6 non-voting members. It is also important to mention that the political view of the parties can play an effective of what bills become

2. Identify three specific powers of the Legislative branch of government, and briefly explain why each is important.

In this paper the subject of interest is the role of congress in the oversight of strategic intelligence, or the lack there of. Does congress have a proper role in the oversight of strategic intelligence? If not what should the proper role be? These are the questions best answered by looking at the history of congressional over sight and where it is at today. The next few pages will cover the topics above and shed light on what it is congress calls oversight.

Congress is the legislative branch of our national government and shares power with the president as well as the Supreme Court. It has five fundamental functions, which include lawmaking, helping constituents, performing oversight, and educating the public,

Firstly the members of congress, executive branch, or members of outside community draw up a bill. After that the members of the house only will have to introduce the bill on the floor of house of representative. Then the bill is sent to the committee. Only bills that are necessary and reasonably appropriate make it to the next step, which is the rules of a committee for debate. Then it goes back to the floor of the house for a debate and members of the house then will vote for the bill. If the bill is in favor by most of the members of the house, hence the bill is sent to the senate. The senator introduces the bill on the floor. If the majority of the committees agree then the bill goes to the entire senate to consider the bill. As it follows the same process of the house, there is a debate and if majority votes for the bill then the bill is returned back to the house of representative.

They then can evaluate programs and conduct oversight hearings to investigate the activities taking place amongst the agencies when problems begin to arise. Furthermore Congress holds the power to manage the bureaucracy’s money through authorizing appropriate spending funds for the agency. However, in order to do so effectively, those who oversee various legislative committees must first authorize this funding process and then allocations are required prior to being sent out. Congress also influences agency head and bureaucratic official appointments made by the president and limits bureaucratic discretion through written legislations. Unlike the power of the President and Congress, which is direct and furthermore an ongoing control over bureaucratic actions, judicial control is just as important although it may present itself in a less apparent manner.

For a bill to become a law it takes more than one step and more than one person deciding, it's not as easy as it seems. First, the legislation is introduced, and then you have the committee action, afterwards floor action, conference committee, the president, and then the bill becomes a law. Some bills will never make it through any of these processes but for those who really want their bill to pass, if they fight for it they just might get lucky. This paper will show you that it takes more than one person and is a long process. Through out this paper I will explain how a bill becomes a law so that you will have a better understanding of the process.

All things first start with an idea. This idea, then becomes an action and this action in turn has a result. This same concept can be applied to the legislative process. The first step begins with an idea, this idea is shared and if it gains the support of the masses this idea will then become sponsored by a representative. Once this idea has sponsorship it then proceeds to the congressional level where this idea gets the new title of a bill. Upon the name change from idea to bill also comes the benefit of becoming a proposed piece of legislation. For a bill this means that it will be sent to both the House of Representatives and Senate awaiting it’s future through debate. If the debate proves favorable for the bill, that is both the House of Representatives and the Senate approve then this bill is sent off to the desk of the president. From the moment the bill arrives at the desk of the president a countdown of ten days begins, this is

Congress has many functions to keep it working and functioning. They do many things to make laws, make sure they’re fair, and much more. There are also many committees with important jobs. There are many things that influence congressional elections such as reapportionment, redistricting, much more. There are many people who make up the House and Senate and they have many important jobs to keep things running smoothly.

The Constitution gives Congress all of the legislative powers of the national government. The House and Senate share most of these powers. This includes the broad enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution—for example, coining money, regulating interstate and foreign commerce, raising and equipping a military, and declaring war. The House and the Senate share most lawmaking powers. Bills must clear both chambers in exactly the same form before they are sent to the president for approval or veto.

It does this in an array of ways at various points in the legislative process. They help the House of Representatives and the Senate Budget Committees and provide cost estimates for bills put into place.However, the Congressional Budget Office only provides information and does not make any recommendations with the information.

The powers of the Congress are listed almost exclusively in the Constitution under Article I, Section 8 which state powers such as: the right to declare war, the right to establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization, and the right to regulate commerce with foreign nations. The Congress is also given the right to lay and collect taxes among other things. The House of Representatives has the greatest privileges of either the house or the senate. The House of Representatives has the power to impeach, or bring charges against, federal officials for misconduct. If no candidate in a

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes…to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States … (and) .....To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States