The Lawmaking Process and the House Rules

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

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

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.

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.).

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).

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.

The road a bill takes to becoming a law is a long and tedious process. First, the proposed bill goes through the House of representatives. Once the bill has been approved by the House, it is then begins its journey through the Senate. After the bill has been endorsed by the Senate, the houses of congress then meet in conference committees to prepare the bill to be sent to the White House. To summarize, the path the bill takes to become a law is a fairly complex impediment.

Once it is at the Senate it goes through the same process had as the House of Representatives, a section of the Senate members go and decide and add their changes to the bill, or decline it. If passed it goes to the next part to the rest of the Senate, who then take their turns adjusting and changing or declining the bill. Then after the whole Senate has review and changed the bill of necessary is goes back to the House of Representatives, who then look over if they like the changes the Senate made to the bill. If the House of Reps find things they do not like, then it is not declined, but goes to a Conference Committee making up parts of the Senate, and parts of the House of Representatives their

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.

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.

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.

A Bill is adopted by a simple majority vote of those members present and voting. There are several exception to this rules, the most significant being constitutional amendment in accordance with article 159 of Federal Constitution. Bill shall not been passed in either House of Parliament unless it has been supported on the second and third readings by the votes of not less than two-third of the total number of members of that House.

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