LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States provides that the authority to make laws is vested in Congress. Congress meets in two-year periods which are designated by number. For example, the Congress meeting for the years 2003-2004 is known as the 108^th Congress.   A proposed piece of legislation is called a bill.   After being introduced into either the House or Senate, it is given a number based on its chronological order of introduction during that term of Congress.  Thus, "H.R. 125" denotes the 125^th bill introduced in the House of Representatives during the current term.  The bill is then sent to a committee (e.g. the House Committee on the Judiciary), and sometimes a bill will then be assigned again to a specialized subcommittee (e.g. the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security). The committee reviews the bill, its language, potential effects, etc, and will hold hearings to debate the bill as well.  This process of debating, analyzing, rewriting, and amending a bill is known as a markup session.   Once it has finished its analysis, the committee either submits a report recommending passage to the full chamber, or tables the bill (where it "dies").   

After a bill is reported out of its assigned committee, it goes to the full floor of the originating house of Congress for debate, further amendment and passage or defeat.  If the bill passes the originating house, it is sent to the other house of Congress for consideration.  Keep in mind that it will retain its bill number from its originating house (e.g. H.R. 125 will still be called H.R. 125 even as the Senate debates it).  The bill then proceeds through the same obstacle course as it did in its originating house.

In order for the bill to be sent to the President, each house must pass it in identical form.  If there are differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill, the two bills are sent to a Conference Committee, made up of members of both houses, which then tries to work out the differences between the bills.  If the Conference Committee is able to hammer out a compromise bill, it is then sent to each house for consideration.  Generally, it does not go through the committee process again, but proceeds directly to the floor for consideration by the full House and Senate.  If each house passes the compromise bill, it is sent to the president.

After it is passed in identical form by both the Senate and the House it is sent to the President of the United States for signature. If the President signs the bill, it will become law, and is now called a Public Law. If vetoed by the President, the bill will not become law unless two-thirds of both the Senate and House vote to override the President's veto.  If the President does not act on a bill within ten business days of receiving it, the bill becomes a law, unless Congress adjourns prior to the end of the 10-day period.  In that case, the presidential inaction amounts to a veto, which is known as a "pocket veto".

Usually, when the president acts on a bill, either by signing it or vetoing it, the president issues a statement which gives his reasons for the action or his opinion as to what the bill means.  These statements then become a part of the Act's legislative history as well.  After the legislation is passed by each house and signed into law (or has its veto overridden), it then becomes statutory law.

Click here to see a chart describing how a bill becomes a law.

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