CONGRESS IN ACTIONMaking a Bill a Law

Speaker of the House

Elected by members of the majority party Next in line of succession Most important legislative position

President Pro Temps of the Senate

Leader of the senate when the VP is not there

Next in line after the Speaker

Majority Floor Leaders Leaders of each party in each House

Party Whips

Serve as a link between the leaders & the rank and file members of Congress

Dick Durbin

Steny Hoyer

Jon Kyl

Kevin McCarthy

Committee Chairman

Chosen from majority party Longest serving member of the

committee from the majority party Chairman decides: when they meet, bills

to take up, whether or not to hold public meetings, call witnesses

They then steer the debate and manage the bill

Committees

Most work is done in committees Standing committees – permanent

committees where bills are sent 19 in House; 17 in the Senate Representatives usually serve on 1 o2 Senators usually serve on 3 or 4

Powerful Committees

House- Rules, Ways & Means, Appropriations, Armed Services, Judiciary, International Relations

Senate- Foreign Relations, Appropriations, Finance, Judiciary, Armed Services

Committee Work

Most standing committees have sub-committees to split up the work

When a bill is introduced the Speaker or the President Pro Temps steers the bill to the appropriate committee

The House Rules committee determines which bills that make it through committees actually make it to the floor of the House for a vote

Types of Committees

Select (special) committee- set up for specific purpose & a limited time

Usually formed to investigate a specific matter

Joint Committee- one composed of both houses

Conference Committee- temporary joint created to reach a compromise on a bill passed through the chambers with different versions. Must be identical to be sent to President

Bill Becomes A LawHouse of Representatives

Public- applies to nation Private- certain persons or places Bills can be presented by members of the

legislative branch, the executive branch, or regular citizens

Resolutions

Measure dealing with only one house, not a binding Law

Joint Resolutions- similar to bills when passed; they have the force of law; usually temporary

Concurrent Resolutions- House and Senate act together; do not have the force of law

Riders- a provision that is attached to a larger measure. Sponsor hopes it will “ride” through with the main bill. Might not be passed on its own.

If President wants the main bill passed will have to pass the “riders” along with it

Usually deals with $$$$$ “earmarks” or “pork”

Dead Bills

Most bills die in committee- “pigeonholed”

Discharge petition- Any member can request that a dead bill be brought to the floor

Rarely used or successful

Committee Actions

Report the bill favorably as is to floor for a vote

Pigeonhole Report the bill in amended form Report the bill unfavorably to the floor-

committee does not want to be responsible for the death of the bill

Report a committee bill- new bill or several bills put together

Rules Committee

The Rules committee ultimately decides what bills go to the floor

Suspend the Rules- happens when Congress wants to fast track a bill

Quorum-a majority of the House needs to be present to vote on a bill

Committee of the Whole- House becomes a committee to work on a bill as a whole then will reconvene to vote on the bill

Speaker allots a certain amount of time to debate each bill brought to the floor

Voting

Voice votes Standing votes Computerized Votes- Aye, Nay, Present

Engrossed- the bill is printed in its final formSpeaker signs it and sends it to the Senate

Bill to LawSenate

Basically the same rules as the House with a few exceptions

Senate rules are less formal than the House

Bills are called to the floor at the discretion of the Senate Majority Leader

Debate is the biggest difference between the two chambers

Debate

Debate is mostly unrestrained Voting does not take place until a

unanimous consent is given “Two Speech Rule”- on Senator can speak

more than twice on a specific measure on the same legislative day

“Filibuster”- talking a bill to death. A group of Senators who do not want a bill passed can continue speaking until the bill is dropped or changed to suit those Senators

Debate

They will also use motions, quorum calls, or other manuevers to stall the vote on a bill which will likely pass

Huey Long in 1935-15 hours-Washington phone book and recipes

Glenn Taylor in 1947-8 hours- Family, fishing, Wall Street

Strom Thurmond-1957-24 hours- trying to stop the Civil Rights Acts of 1957

Debate

Over 200 bills have been killed by filibusters

Many bills are not even brought to floor due to threat of filibuster

Cloture-passed in 1917- must have a vote of 60 Senators “super-majority”- then bill must be brought to floor after 30 hours

Presidential Acts

Once a Bill has passed in identical form in both the House and Senate the President acts

Sign the bill into law Veto- may be overridden with 2/3 vote of

both houses President could just ignore it and then it will

become law in 10 days; not Sundays Pocket Veto- if Congress adjourns within 10

days of submitting the bill and the President does not act on the bill, it dies there