US CONGRESS - LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT - OVERVIEW

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH - CONGRESS

Main US legislative body is Congress

Congress consists of:

• Senate (100 Members, 2 Senators each State)
• House of Representatives (435 Members, elected every 2 years) ... State represented according to its population.

 
Legislative proposals may be in the form of:

Bills Most common form of proposed legislation. Originate in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. In practice, legislative proposals of any form are mostly introduced to the House of Representatives. All REVENUE RAISING bills must originate in House of Representatives, but Senate can propose or agree with amendments) To become law: bills must be agreed in an identical form by House of Representatives; and  Senate;  AND must receive presidential approval.

Joint Resolutions Similar to bills. Can originate in either the House of Representatives or in the Senate. However, joint resolutions that propose amendments to the constitution are not presented to the President for approval. Two-thirds of both Senate and House of Representatives must approve JOINT RESOLUTIONS AND they must be submitted to the States for ratification (confirmation of adoption).

Concurrent Resolutions Bypass the President House of Representatives and Senate approval required. Concurrent resolutions usually regulate administrative issues ( operations of both the House of Representatives and the Senate).

Simple Resolutions Bypass the President.  Regulate issues related to the operation of either the House of Representatives or Senate. [ Presumably become law when approved by both House of Representatives and Senate (not expressly stated in source) ]

Introduction and Referral to COMMITTEE Bills can be introduced by any Member in the House of Representatives. Can have an unlimited number of 'co-sponsors' (proposing parties). Proposed bill is assigned a LEGISLATIVE NUMBER. Then it is referred to the COMMITTEE which has jurisdiction over specific area of law. Then it is printed in its INTRODUCED FORM.

Consideration Initiated by PUBLIC HEARING. Committee members hear debate proposed legislation. A transcript of the TESTIMONIES is taken during the hearings. TRANSCRIPT is  made available for inspection in the COMMITTEE OFFICE. After HEARING (mentioned above), bill is considered in detailed in a session. Detailed session known as:  the 'MARK-UP' SESSION. Now, at this point, members of the COMMITTEE can propose amendments and a vote is taken for or against amendments. COMMITTEE then determines by vote what further action should be taken on the proposed legislation. It can be REPORTED (with or without amendments) or TABLED ( which means that no further action will occur). If extensive amendments needed, Committee REPORTS A NEW BILL (which incorporates the all the approved changes (“clean bill”)). The COMMITTEE REPORT is the document that explains the purpose and the scope of the bill, and the reasons for its approval.

House Floor consideration  (ie House of Representatives) Legislation mostly gets to this stage after REPORTING by Committee. EXCEPTION:  sometimes brought to the Floor directly. The procedure in the FULL HOUSE is regulated by “rules”. 'Rules' are resolutions that determine the debate time and whether amendments will be offered. After the debate, the House of Representatives votes (for or against the bill). Alternatively, it may decide to  RECOMMIT the proposed legislation to a committee for consideration.

Senate stage Following House of Representatives approval: Proposed legislation submitted to Senate for consideration. Both Senate and House of Reps must AGREE on SAME final draft, before presenting to PRESIDENT. Any changes to draft by Senate, must therefore go back to the House of Representatives for consideration. House of Representatives and Senate  appoint a CONFERENCE COMMITTEE  with both House and Senate members to deal with this lengthy process. CONFERENCE COMMITTEE is charged with NEGOTIATING and RESOLVING what is at issue between the bodies. FINAL VERSION of the bill returns to the House and the Senate for VOTE on FINAL PASSAGE.

Presidential action Bill then resented to the President for approval. If the President signs the bill, it becomes law.  The President has the right to refuse to sign. In this case, the President must return a bill with objections to Congress (10 days [excl Sundays]). Otherwise, Bill becomes law as if it had been signed -- if president fails to return it to Congress. Congress has the right to prevent a bill’s return by adjournment. In this case the bill cannot become law, even if the President has not sent objections to the Congress. This procedure is known as “pocket veto”. The extent of pocket veto authority is disputable and it has not yet been determined by US courts.

ABOVE SOURCED AT:  http://www.out-law.com/page-7767

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COMMENT



Largely for my benefit, as I didn't know exactly how laws are passed in the US.

I'll probably forget the ins and outs of this, but it's a useful guide to tuck away.