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How a Bill Becomes a Law
When a senator or a representative introduces a bill, he or she sends
it to the clerk of his house, who gives it a number and title. This is the
first reading, and the bill is referred to the proper
committee.
The committee may decide the bill is unwise or unnecessary and
table it, thus killing it at once. Or it may decide the bill is
worthwhile and hold hearings to listen to facts and opinions presented by
experts and other interested persons. After members of the committee have
debated the bill and perhaps offered amendments, a vote is taken; and if
the vote is favorable, the bill is sent back to the floor of the
house.
The clerk reads the bill sentence by sentence to the house, and this is
known as the second reading. Members may then debate the bill and
offer amendments. In the House of Representatives, the time for debate is
limited by a cloture rule, but there is no such restriction in the
Senate for cloture, where 60 votes are required. This makes possible a
filibuster, in which one or more opponents hold the floor to defeat
the bill.
The third reading is by title only, and the bill is put to a
vote, which may be by voice or roll call, depending on the circumstances
and parliamentary rules. A member who must be absent at the time of a vote
may contract (or “pair”) with a member of the opposition to abstain,
balancing each other out.
The bill then goes to the other house of Congress, where it may be
defeated, or passed with or without amendments. If the bill is defeated,
it dies. If it is passed with amendments, a joint congressional committee
must be appointed by both houses to iron out the differences.
After its final passage by both houses, the bill is sent to the
president. If he approves, he signs it, and the bill becomes a law.
However, if he disapproves, he vetoes the bill by refusing to sign
it and sending it back to the house of origin with his reasons for the
veto. The objections are read and debated, and a roll-call vote is taken.
If the bill receives less than a two-thirds vote, it is defeated and goes
no further. But if it receives a two-thirds vote or greater, it is sent to
the other house for a vote. If that house also passes it by a two-thirds
vote, the president's veto is overridden, and the bill becomes a
law.
Should the president desire neither to sign nor to veto the bill, he
may retain it for ten days, Sundays excepted, after which time it
automatically becomes a law without signature. However, if Congress has
adjourned within those ten days, the bill is automatically killed, that
process of indirect rejection being known as a pocket veto.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education,
Inc. All rights reserved.
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