Congress In Action Making 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/Minority 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 John Cornyn Dick Durbin Steny Hoyer Steve Scalise

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 Law House 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 form Speaker signs it and sends it to the Senate

Bill to Law Senate 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