The Lawmaking Process and the House Rules

Various actions can occur once a bill passes through the first house and awaits approval by the second. The course materials point out that if one chamber passes the bill the other may: pass the bill as it stands, send the bill to a committee, reject the bill, or ignore the bill (Unit 3 the Congress, 11). If referred to a committee, that committee would: examine the bill, change the bill, or both. If rejected, the rejecting chamber will apprise the other chamber of its act. If ignored, the ignoring chamber would press forward with its work on that chamber’s particular version of the bill.

Then, a reading clerk reads the bill section by section and the Representatives recommend changes. When all changes have been made, the bill is ready to be voted on.There are three methods for voting on a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives: Viva Voce, Division, and Recorded. If a majority of the Representatives say or select yes, the bill passes in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill is then certified by the Clerk of the House and delivered to the U.S. Senate. When a bill reaches the U.S. Senate, it goes through many of the same steps it went through in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill is discussed in a Senate committee and then reported to the Senate floor to be voted on. Senators vote by voice. Those who support the bill say “yea,” and those who oppose it say “nay.” If a majority of the Senators say “yea,” the bill passes in the U.S. Senate and is ready to go to the President.

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

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.

Congress is a complex lawmaking function that runs the country. In other words is the legislative body of our country made up of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Difficulties that are involved by the representation function have to do with Congressmen wanting to be reelected, opposition between the two parties, and the lobbying that takes place. These three difficulties are what causes the conflict with the lawmaking function of Congress.

As mentioned before, getting a federal law passed takes more steps than a state or local law. A member of Congress must first introduce the bill. After the bill is introduced to Congress it is then referred to a committee or multiple committees. The committee that the bill is referred to depends on what committee has jurisdiction over the primary issue of the bill (Steps in Making a Bill a Law: The Federal Legislative Process). Sometimes the bill is referred to a subcommittee first. According to, “Steps in Making a Bill a Law: The Federal Legislative Process,” once referred to a committee, “The chairman of the Committee determines whether there will be a hearing on the bill and whether there will be ‘mark up’” (Steps in Making a Bill a Law: The Federal Legislative Process). A “mark up” is when members of the committee meet to offer changes that could be made to the bill. After changes are accepted or rejected, the chairman moves to vote the bill favorably out of committee then the entire body of the committee favorably reports out the bill (Steps in Making a Bill a Law: The Federal Legislative Process). The third step to making a bill a law is a committee report. In this step, the committee chairman’s staff writes a report of the bill. The report of the bill describes the intent of legislation, the bill’s legislative history, the impact the bill will have on existing laws and programs, and the position that the majority of the members of committee take on the bill (Steps

To begin it would be best to understand what a bill is. A bill is a proposal of a law (2). Bills can only emerge in Congress (2). Congress is composed of the House of Representatives and the

Once the bill reaches its date, the members initiate a debate regarding the proposed legislation (“The Legislative Process,” 2014). At this time, amendments may be approved and the bill is voted on by the members. If the bill is passed, it is referred to the other chamber and undergoes the same process. If the bill is accepted by both the House and Senate, it is sent to the President. The President has the option to approve or veto the bill. If signed by the President, it becomes law. Congress may try to override the President’s veto by two thirds vote of the members (“The Legislative Process,” 2014).

Now that the bill has been passed through the House, it is ready to go through the proceedings of the Senate. First, the bill is again introduced but now by a senator who must be recognized by the presiding officer and announce the introduction of the bill. A bill that has passed either house of congress is sometimes called an act, but the term usually means legislation that has passed both houses and become a law. Secondly, the Vice President of the US, who is the presiding officer of the Senate, assigns the proposed law to a committee for further study ( the Senate has about 15 standing committees). The committees or one of its subcommittees studies the bill and may hold hearings. The committee may approve the bill as is, revise the bill, or table the bill. Now the bill goes to the Senate to await its turn on the Senate floor. Normally the bill is considered as introduced unless the bill is urgent in which case the leaders of the majority party might push it ahead. At this time the Senate considers the bill. Here senators can debate a bill indefinitely, unless voted otherwise. When there is no further discussion, the Senate votes. Most bills must have simple majority to pass. At this point of development, the process is especially exemplary because the bill in the Senate is now considered by debate to better illustrate its strengths and/or weaknesses. To summarize, the bill has now been passed by both houses of congress.

After introduction of the bill, the referral or assignment to house or senate then takes place. In other words, the bill is assigned to standing committee. The Speaker and Lieutenant Governor appoint committee members and chairs. This gives the presiding officers great power and these vital decisions can

If both the Senate and the House pass the bill, it is then sent to the president for his signature leading to the bill becoming a law (United States Senate, n.d.).

The bill is brought up to either the House of Representatives or the Senate first, the house of Congress that views the bill first does not necessarily matter and either can occur. As USA.gov states, “Once a bill is introduced, Representatives or Senators will meet in small groups to discuss, research or make changes to it” (USA). This shows that a bill can go to either house of Congress first, and once there the bill is discussed again and possibly amended. If the bill were to go to the House of Representatives first, they would send it to the “House Committee on Rules” (Krutz 435), where the parameters for debate would be set, such as length and amendments. After the committee sets the regulations on debate, it is sent to the House of Representatives floor where any debate and amendments occur. Once any possible amendments are made, the bill is voted on by the House of Representatives where it would need the Majority plus one to pass. If the bill were to be passed it would then move on to the Senate. As votesmart.org states “[In the Senate] debate is unlimited unless cloture is invoked. Members can speak as long as they want and amendments need not be germane” (VoteSmart). This shows that once a bill reaches the Senate there is unlimited debate on it. This also shows that any amendment made does not have to pertain directly to the bill at hand, unlike the House of Representatives. The Senate has a special power that they can perform called a

But the bill can also be brought to the floor if a large amount of the Senate chooses it to. Then there is the debate, The Committee of the Whole debates and amends the bill, but they can not pass it. They will decide how much time each person will get to debate the bill. The bill will then go back to the house to be voted on; there must be two hundred and eighteen members present to have a final vote. If for some reason there is not enough members the House will be adjourned or the Sergeant at Arms will go get them.

In the current political climate in the Iowa Statehouse can be very toxic for bills that are novel and are trying to push the envelope on issues. Currently, House is where these types of bills go to die. There is very little support for progressive legislation in the House. With Republicans having a 57 to 43 Democratic margin in the House; it would be best to start the bill in the Senate.

Anyone may draft a bill, which means an ordinary citizen can actually write a bill. Only members of Congress, however, can introduce legislation, and any of the congresspersons become sponsors. A bill can have anywhere from one sponsor to an entire party support. There are four general types of legislation; bills, joint resolutions (resolutions between both chambers but requires signing), concurrent resolutions (a joint resolution that does not require signing), and simple resolutions. The legislative process begins when a bill or resolution is numbered, (H.R. signifies a House bill and S. a Senate bill), referred to a committee, and printed by the Government Printing Office.