- "All Legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress
of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of
Representatives."
(Article I, Section 1, of the
United States Constitution)
The chief function of Congress is the making of laws. The legislative
process comprises a number of steps, and much information is available from
this page concerning the legislation introduced and considered in the 109th
Congress. To help you understand the information and how it interrelates, a
very brief overview of the legislative process within the House of
Representatives is presented below. There are many aspects and variations of
the process which are not addressed here. A much more in-depth discussion
and presentation of the overall process is available in
How Our Laws Are Made.
Most of the information presented below was excerpted from that
Congressional document.
Forms of Congressional Action
The work of Congress is initiated by the introduction of a proposal in
one of four principal forms: the bill, the joint resolution, the concurrent
resolution, and the simple resolution.
- Bills
- A bill is the form used for most legislation, whether permanent or
temporary, general or special, public or private. A bill originating in
the House of Representatives is designated by the letters "H.R.",
signifying "House of Representatives", followed by a number that it
retains throughout all its parliamentary stages. Bills are presented to
the President for action when approved in identical form by both the
House of Representatives and the Senate.
- Joint Resolutions
- Joint resolutions may originate either in the House of
Representatives or in the Senate. There is little practical difference
between a bill and a joint resolution. Both are subject to the same
procedure, except for a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the
Constitution. On approval of such a resolution by two-thirds of both the
House and Senate, it is sent directly to the Administrator of General
Services for submission to the individual states for ratification. It is
not presented to the President for approval. A joint resolution
originating in the House of Representatives is designated "H.J.Res."
followed by its individual number. Joint resolutions become law in the
same manner as bills.
- Concurrent Resolutions
- Matters affecting the operations of both the House of
Representatives and Senate are usually initiated by means of concurrent
resolutions. A concurrent resolution originating in the House of
Representatives is designated "H.Con.Res." followed by its individual
number. On approval by both the House of Representatives and Senate,
they are signed by the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the
Senate. They are not presented to the President for action.
- Simple Resolutions
- A matter concerning the operation of either the House of
Representatives or Senate alone is initiated by a simple resolution. A
resolution affecting the House of Representatives is designated "H.Res."
followed by its number. They are not presented to the President for
action.
For more information on bills and resolutions see
Forms of Congressional Action in
How Our Laws Are
Made.
Introduction and Referral to Committee
Any Member in the House of Representatives may introduce a bill at any
time while the House is in session by simply placing it in the "hopper"
provided for the purpose at the side of the Clerk's desk in the House
Chamber. The sponsor's signature must appear on the bill. A public bill may
have an unlimited number of co-sponsoring Members. The bill is assigned its
legislative number by the Clerk and referred to the appropriate committee by
the Speaker, with the assistance of the Parliamentarian. The bill is then
printed in its introduced form, which you can read in
Bill Text. If a bill
was introduced today, summary information about it can be found in
Bill Status Today
An important phase of the legislative process is the action taken by
committees. It is during committee action that the most intense
consideration is given to the proposed measures; this is also the time when
the people are given their opportunity to be heard. Each piece of
legislation is referred to the committee that has jurisdiction over the area
affected by the measure.
For more information on this step of the legislative process see
Introduction and Reference to Committee of
How Our Laws Are Made.
Consideration by Committee
- Public Hearings and Markup Sessions
- Usually the first step in this process is a public hearing, where
the committee members hear witnesses representing various viewpoints on
the measure. Each committee makes public the date, place and subject of
any hearing it conducts. The
Committee Meetings
scheduled for today are available along with other
House Schedules
. Public announcements are also published in the Daily Digest
portion of the
Congressional Record.
A transcript of the testimony taken at a hearing is made available
for inspection in the committee office, and frequently the complete
transcript is printed and distributed by the committee.
After hearings are completed, the bill is considered in a session
that is popularly known as the "mark-up" session. Members of the
committee study the viewpoints presented in detail. Amendments may be
offered to the bill, and the committee members vote to accept or reject
these changes.
This process can take place at either the subcommittee level or the
full committee level, or at both. Hearings and markup sessions are
status steps noted in the Legislative Action portion of
Bill Status.
- Committee Action
- At the conclusion of deliberation, a vote of committee or
subcommittee Members is taken to determine what action to take on the
measure. It can be reported, with or without amendment, or tabled, which
means no further action on it will occur. If the committee has approved
extensive amendments, they may decide to report a new bill incorporating
all the amendments. This is known as a "clean bill," which will have a
new number. Votes in committee can be found in Committee Votes.
If the committee votes to report a bill, the
Committee Report
is written. This report describes the purpose and scope of the measure
and the reasons for recommended approval. House Report numbers are
prefixed with "H.Rpt." and then a number indicating the Congress
(currently 107).
For more information on bills and resolutions see
Consideration by Committee in
How Our Laws Are Made.
House Floor Consideration
- Consideration of a measure by the full House can be a simple or very
complex operation. In general a measure is ready for consideration by
the full House after it has been reported by a committee. Under certain
circumstances, it may be brought to the Floor directly.
- The consideration of a measure may be governed by a "rule." A rule
is itself a simple resolution, which must be passed by the House, that
sets out the particulars of debate for a specific bill -- how much time
will allowed for debate, whether amendments can be offered, and other
matters.
- Debate time for a measure is normally divided between proponents and
opponents. Each side yields time to those Members who wish to speak on
the bill. When amendments are offered, these are also debated and voted
upon. If the House is in session today, you can see a summary of
Current House
Floor Proceedings .
- After all debate is concluded and amendments decided upon, the House
is ready to vote on final passage. In some cases, a vote to "recommit"
the bill to committee is requested. This is usually an effort by
opponents to change some portion or table the measure. If the attempt to
recommit fails, a vote on final passage is ordered.
Resolving Differences
- After a measure passes in the House, it goes to the Senate for
consideration. A bill must pass both bodies in the same form before it
can be presented to the President for signature into law.
- If the Senate changes the language of the measure, it must return to
the House for concurrence or additional changes. This back-and-forth
negotiation may occur on the House floor, with the House accepting or
rejecting Senate amendments or complete Senate text. Often a conference
committee will be appointed with both House and Senate members. This
group will resolve the differences in committee and report the identical
measure back to both bodies for a vote. Conference committees also issue
reports outlining the final version of the bill.
Final Step
- Votes on final passage, as well as all other votes in the House, may
be taken by the electronic voting system which registers each individual
Member's response. These votes are referred to as Yea/Nay votes or
recorded votes, and are available in House Votes by Bill number, roll
call vote number or words describing the reason for the vote.
- Votes in the House may also be by voice vote, and no record of
individual responses is available.
- After a measure has been passed in identical form by both the House
and Senate, it is considered "enrolled." It is sent to the President who
may sign the measure into law, veto it and return it to Congress, let it
become law without signature, or at the end of a session, pocket-veto
it.