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Step 5

A simple majority is required in each house

A bill must be approved by both Chambers of Congress. When the Senate amends and agrees to a bill or a version of a bill that the House has already passed or when the House amends and passes a Senate bill or a version of a Senate bill, the two Chambers may begin to resolve any legislative differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill by way of a conference committee. When the chambers go to conference, the House and Senate send conferees or representatives to bargain and negotiate. The final compromise is embodied in a Conference Report that must be agreed to by both chambers before it is cleared for presidential consideration. The Conference Report will recommend a common version of the measure for approval and will also include statements of legislative intent regarding provisions of the legislation in a Joint Statement of Managers of the Conference.

bill becomes a law

The Office of Federal Register assigns the Public Law a number and the Government Printing Office prints a copy of it. Laws are issued first in slip form or a single publication containing one law. Later it is organized in the order in which it was passed. Finally, it is codified into subject order so that all laws on the same topic fall together.

Step 4

House and Senate members compose a single bill from the two versions

(A veto can be overridden if 2/3 of Congress approves the bill)

Step 6

President can sign the bill or veto it

After the bill is passed by both Chambers it is sent to the President for his approval or his signature, which if granted

creates a Public Law. When a President comments on and refuses to sign a bill it is known as a veto. A vetoed bill may return to Congress for reconsideration. If the President does not act within 10 days the bill automatically becomes law. If Congress adjourns during the 10 days after the bill is sent to the President and he does not sign it, the bill is automatically vetoed. This process is also known as a pocket veto.

Step 2

Step 3

Step 1

committees approve, rewrite, or kill a bill

a bill is debated, altered, and voted on in each house

introduction of the bill by the house or senate

After the first reading, the Speaker refers the bill to one or more of the standing committees. A bill’s content largely determines where it will go. The Speaker does have some discretion, however, particularly over complex measures with provisions covering a number of subjects. Which committee gets a bill can matter. For example, a controversial provision in the bill might receive a more favorable welcome in one committee than it might in another.

A bill is a proposed law presented to the House or Senate for consideration. Most of the bills introduced in either house do not originate with members themselves. Instead, however, many of the most important bills are born somewhere in the executive branch. Business, labor, agriculture, and other special interest groups often draft measures, as well. And some bills, or at least the ideas for them, come from private citizens who think “there ought to be a law. . .” Many others are born in the standing committees of Congress.

Once a bill reaches a committee, the chairman almost always refers it to one of several subcommittees. For an important or controversial measure, a committee, or most often one of its subcommittees, holds public hearings. Interested parties, including the representatives of interest groups, public officials, and others, are invited to testify at these information-gathering sessions. If necessary, a committee can issue a subpoena, forcing a witness to testify. A subpoena is an order compelling one to testify and/or produce evidence. Failure to obey a subpoena may lead the House or Senate to cite the offender for contempt of Congress—a federal crime punishable by fine and/or imprisonment.

the seven steps of the law making process by Cayla J.

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