Revised and Updated
September 1999
by Charles W. Johnson,
Parliamentarian,
U.S. House of
Representatives
FOREWORD
First
published in 1953 by the Committee on the Judiciary of
the
House of Representatives, this 22nd edition of "How Our Laws
Are
Made" reflects changes in congressional procedures since the
21st
edition, which was revised and updated in 1997. This
edition
was prepared by the Office of the Parliamentarian of the
U.S.
House of Representatives in consultation with the Office of
the
Parliamentarian of the U.S. Senate.
The
framers of our Constitution created a strong federal
government
resting on the concept of "separation of powers."
In
Article I, Section 1, of the Constitution, the
Legislative
Branch is created by the following language: "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."
Upon
this elegant, yet simple, grant of legislative powers
has
grown an exceedingly complex and evolving legislative
process. To aid the public's understanding of the
legislative
process,
we have revised this popular brochure.
For more
detailed
information on how our laws are made and for the text of
the
laws themselves, the reader should refer to government
internet
sites or pertinent House and Senate publications
available
from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government
Printing
Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
Charles
W. Johnson
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.
INTRODUCTION
II.
THE CONGRESS
III.
SOURCES OF LEGISLATION
IV.
FORMS OF CONGRESSIONAL ACTION
BILLS
JOINT
RESOLUTIONS
CONCURRENT
RESOLUTIONS
SIMPLE
RESOLUTIONS
V.
INTRODUCTION AND REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE
VI.
CONSIDERATION BY COMMITTEE
COMMITTEE
MEETINGS
PUBLIC
HEARINGS
MARKUP
FINAL
COMMITTEE ACTION
POINTS
OF ORDER WITH RESPECT TO COMMITTEE HEARING PROCEDURE
VII.
REPORTED BILLS
CONTENTS
OF REPORTS
FILING
OF REPORTS
AVAILABILITY
OF REPORTS AND HEARINGS
VIII.
LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT BY STANDING COMMITTEES
IX.
CALENDARS
UNION
CALENDAR
HOUSE
CALENDAR
PRIVATE
CALENDAR
CORRECTIONS
CALENDAR
CALENDAR
OF MOTIONS TO DISCHARGE COMMITTEES
X.
OBTAINING CONSIDERATION OF MEASURES
UNANIMOUS
CONSENT
SPECIAL
RESOLUTION OR "RULE"
CONSIDERATION
OF MEASURES MADE IN ORDER BY RULE REPORTED
FROM
THE COMMITTEE ON RULES
MOTION
TO DISCHARGE COMMITTEE
MOTION
TO SUSPEND THE RULES
CALENDAR
WEDNESDAY
DISTRICT
OF COLUMBIA BUSINESS
QUESTIONS
OF PRIVILEGE
PRIVILEGED
MATTERS
XI.
CONSIDERATION AND DEBATE
COMMITTEE
OF THE WHOLE HOUSE
SECOND
READING
AMENDMENTS
AND THE GERMANENESS RULE
THE
COMMITTEE "RISES"
HOUSE
ACTION
MOTION
TO RECOMMIT
QUORUM
CALLS AND ROLLCALLS
VOTING
ELECTRONIC
VOTING
PAIRING
OF MEMBERS
SYSTEM
OF LIGHTS AND BELLS
RECESS
AUTHORITY
LIVE
COVERAGE OF FLOOR PROCEEDINGS
XII.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET PROCESS
XIII.
ENGROSSMENT AND MESSAGE TO SENATE
XIV.
SENATE ACTION
COMMITTEE
CONSIDERATION
CHAMBER
PROCEDURE
XV.
FINAL ACTION ON AMENDED BILL
REQUEST
FOR A CONFERENCE
AUTHORITY
OF CONFEREES
MEETINGS
AND ACTION OF CONFEREES
CONFERENCE
REPORTS
CUSTODY
OF PAPERS
XVI.
BILL ORIGINATING IN SENATE
XVII.
ENROLLMENT
XVIII.
PRESIDENTIAL ACTION
VETO
MESSAGE
LINE ITEM VETO
XIX.
PUBLICATION
SLIP
LAWS
STATUTES
AT LARGE
UNITED
STATES CODE
APPENDIX
This
brochure is intended to provide a basic outline of the
numerous
steps of our federal lawmaking process from the source
of
an idea for a legislative proposal through its publication as
a
statute. The legislative process is a
matter about which every
citizen
should be well informed in order to understand and
appreciate
the work of Congress.
It
is hoped that this guide will enable every citizen to
gain
a greater understanding of the federal legislative process
and
its role as one of the foundations of our representative
system. One of the most practical safeguards of the
American
democratic
way of life is this legislative process with its
emphasis
on the protection of the minority, allowing ample
opportunity
to all sides to be heard and make their views known.
The
fact that a proposal cannot become a law without
consideration
and approval by both Houses of Congress is an
outstanding
virtue of our bicameral legislative system.
The open
and
full discussion provided under the Constitution often results
in
the notable improvement of a bill by amendment before it
becomes
law or in the eventual defeat of an inadvisable proposal.
As
the majority of laws originate in the House of
Representatives,
this discussion will focus principally on the
procedure
in that body.
Article
I, Section 1, of the United States Constitution,
provides
that:
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.
The
Senate is composed of 100 Members-two from each state,
regardless
of population or area-elected by the people in
accordance
with the 17th Amendment to the Constitution.
The 17th
Amendment
changed the former constitutional method under which
Senators
were chosen by the respective state legislatures. A
Senator
must be at least 30 years of age, have been a citizen of
the
United States for nine years, and, when elected, be a
resident
of the state for which the Senator is chosen.
The term
of
office is six years and one-third of the total membership of
the
Senate is elected every second year.
The terms of both
Senators
from a particular state are arranged so that they do not
terminate
at the same time. Of the two Senators
from a state
serving
at the same time the one who was elected first-or if both
were
elected at the same time, the one elected for a full term-is
referred
to as the "senior" Senator from that state. The other
is
referred to as the "junior" Senator.
If a Senator dies or
resigns
during the term, the governor of the state must call a
special
election unless the state legislature has authorized the
governor
to appoint a successor until the next election, at which
time
a successor is elected for the balance of the term. Most of
the
state legislatures have granted their governors the power of
appointment.
Each
Senator has one vote.
As
constituted in the 105th Congress, the House of
Representatives
is composed of 435 Members elected every two
years
from among the 50 states, apportioned to their total
populations. The permanent number of 435 was established
by
federal
law following the Thirteenth Decennial Census in 1910, in
accordance
with Article I, Section 2, of the Constitution. This
number
was increased temporarily to 437 for the 87th Congress to
provide
for one Representative each for Alaska and Hawaii. The
Constitution
limits the number of Representatives to not more
than
one for every 30,000 of population.
Under a former
apportionment
in one state, a particular Representative
represented
more than 900,000 constituents, while another in the
same
state was elected from a district having a population of
only
175,000. The Supreme Court has since
held unconstitutional
a
Missouri statute permitting a maximum population variance of
3.1
percent from mathematical equality. The
Court ruled in
Kirkpatrick
v. Preisler, 394 U.S. 526 (1969), that the variances
among
the districts were not unavoidable and, therefore, were
invalid. That decision was an interpretation of the
Court's
earlier
ruling in Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964), that
the
Constitution requires that "as nearly as is practicable one
man's
vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as
another's".
A
law enacted in 1967 abolished all "at-large" elections
except
in those less populous states entitled to only one
Representative. An "at-large" election is one in
which a
Representative
is elected by the voters of the entire state
rather
than by the voters in a congressional district within the
state.
A
Representative must be at least 25 years of age, have been
a
citizen of the United States for seven years, and, when
elected,
be a resident of the state in which the Representative
is
chosen. If a Representative dies or
resigns during the term,
the
governor of the state must call a special election pursuant
to
state law for the choosing of a successor to serve for the
unexpired
portion of the term.
Each
Representative has one vote.
In
addition to the Representatives from each of the States,
a
Resident Commissioner from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and
Delegates
from the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam,
and
the Virgin Islands are elected pursuant to federal law. The
Resident
Commissioner and the Delegates have most of the
prerogatives
of Representatives including the right to vote in
committees
to which they are elected. However, the
Resident
Commissioner
and the Delegates do not have the right to vote on
matters
before the House.
Under
the provisions of Section 2 of the 20th Amendment to
the
Constitution, Congress must assemble at least once every
year,
at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless by law they
appoint
a different day.
A
Congress lasts for two years, commencing in January of the
year
following the biennial election of Members.
A Congress is
divided
into two sessions.
The
Constitution authorizes each House to determine the rules of
its
proceedings. Pursuant to that
authority, the House of
Representatives
adopts its rules on the opening day of each
Congress. The Senate considers itself a continuing
body and
operates
under continuous standing rules that it amends from time
to
time.
Unlike
some other parliamentary bodies, both the Senate and
the
House of Representatives have equal legislative functions and
powers
with certain exceptions. For example,
the Constitution
provides
that only the House of Representatives originate revenue
bills. By tradition, the House also originates
appropriation
bills. As both bodies have equal legislative
powers, the
designation
of one as the "upper" House and the other as the
"lower"
House is not appropriate.
The
chief function of Congress is the making of laws. In
addition,
the Senate has the function of advising and consenting
to
treaties and to certain nominations by the President. While
under
the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, both Houses confirm
the
President's nomination for Vice-President when there is a
vacancy
in that office. In the matter of
impeachments, the House
of
Representatives presents the charges-a function similar to
that
of a grand jury-and the Senate sits as a court to try the
impeachment. No impeached person may be removed without a
two-thirds
vote of the Senate. The Congress also
plays a role in
presidential
elections. Both Houses meet in joint
session on the
sixth
day of January, following a presidential election, unless
by
law they appoint a different day, to count the electoral
votes. If no candidate receives a majority of the
total
electoral
votes, the House of Representatives, each state
delegation
having one vote, chooses the President from among the
three
candidates having the largest number of electoral votes and
the
Senate chooses the Vice President from the two candidates
having
the largest number of votes for that office.
Sources
of ideas for legislation are unlimited and proposed
drafts
of bills originate in many diverse quarters.
Primary
among
these is the idea and draft conceived by a Member or
Delegate. This may emanate from the election campaign
during
which
the Member had promised, if elected, to introduce
legislation
on a particular subject. The Member may
have also
become
aware after taking office of the need for amendment to or
repeal
of an existing law or the enactment of a statute in an
entirely
new field.
In
addition, the Member's constituents, either as
individuals
or through citizen groups may avail themselves of the
right
to petition and transmit their proposals to the Member.
The
right to petition is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the
Constitution. Many excellent laws have originated in this
way,
as
some organizations, because of their vital concern with
various
areas of legislation, have considerable knowledge
regarding
the laws affecting their interests and have the
services
of legislative draftspersons at their disposal for this
purpose. Similarly, state legislatures may
"memorialize"
Congress
to enact specified federal laws by passing resolutions
to
be transmitted to the House and Senate as memorials. If
favorably
impressed by the idea, the Member may introduce the
proposal
in the form in which it has been submitted or may
redraft
it. In any event, the Member may
consult with the
Legislative
Counsel of the House or the Senate to frame the ideas
in
suitable legislative language and form.
In
modern times, the "executive communication" has become a
prolific
source of legislative proposals. This
is usually in the
form
of a message or letter from a member of the President's
Cabinet
or the head of an independent agency-or even from the
President-
transmitting a draft of a proposed bill to the Speaker
of
the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate.
Despite
the structure of separation of powers, Article II,
Section
3, of the Constitution imposes an obligation on the
President
to report to Congress from time to time on the "State
of
the Union" and to recommend for consideration such measures as
the
President considers necessary and expedient.
Many of these
executive
communications follow on the President's message to
Congress
on the state of the Union. The
communication is then
referred
to the standing committee or committees having
jurisdiction
of the subject matter of the proposal.
The chairman
or
the ranking minority member of the relevant committee usually
introduces
the bill promptly either in the form in which it was
received
or with desired changes. This practice
is usually
followed
even when the majority of the House and the President
are
not of the same political party, although there is no
constitutional
or statutory requirement that a bill be introduced
to
effectuate the recommendations. The
committee or one of its
subcommittees
may also decide to examine the communication to
determine
whether a bill should be introduced.
The most
important
of the regular executive communications is the annual
message
from the President transmitting the proposed budget to
Congress. The President's budget proposal, together
with
testimony
by officials of the various branches of the government
before
the Appropriations Committees of the House and Senate, is
the
basis of the several appropriation bills that are drafted by
the
Committee on Appropriations of the House.
Many
of the executive departments and independent agencies
employ
legislative counsels who are charged with the drafting of
bills. These legislative proposals are forwarded to
Congress
with
a request for their enactment.
The
drafting of statutes is an art that requires great
skill,
knowledge, and experience. In some
instances, a draft is
the
result of a study covering a period of a year or more by a
commission
or committee designated by the President or a member
of
the cabinet. The Administrative
Procedure Act and the Uniform
Code
of Military Justice are two examples of enactments resulting
from
such studies. In addition,
congressional committees
sometimes
draft bills after studies and hearings covering periods
of
a year or more.
IV.
FORMS OF CONGRESSIONAL ACTION
The
work of Congress is initiated by the introduction of a
proposal
in one of four forms: the bill, the joint resolution,
the
concurrent resolution, and the simple resolution. The most
customary
form used in both Houses is the bill.
During the 105th
Congress
(1997-1998), 7,529 bills and 200 joint resolutions were
introduced
in both Houses. Of the total number
introduced, 4,874
bills
and 140 joint resolutions originated in the House of
Representatives.
For
the purpose of simplicity, this discussion will be
confined
generally to the procedure on a House of Representatives
bill,
with brief comment on each of the forms.
A
bill is the form used for most legislation, whether
permanent
or temporary, general or special, public or private.
The
form of a House bill is as follows:
A
BILL
For
the establishment, etc. [as the title may be].
Be
it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the
United States of America in Congress assembled, That, etc.
The
enacting clause was prescribed by law in 1871 and is
identical
in all bills, whether they originate in the House of
Representatives
or in the Senate.
Bills
may originate in either the House of Representatives
or
the Senate with one notable exception provided in the
Constitution. Article I, Section 7, of the Constitution
provides
that
all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House
of
Representatives but that the Senate may propose or concur with
amendments. By tradition, general appropriation bills
also
originate
in the House of Representatives.
There
are two types of bills-public and private.
A public
bill
is one that affects the public generally.
A bill that
affects
a specified individual or a private entity rather than
the
population at large is called a private bill.
A typical
private
bill is used for relief in matters such as immigration
and
naturalization and claims against the United States.
A
bill originating in the House of Representatives is
designated
by the letters "H.R." followed by a number that it
retains
throughout all its parliamentary stages.
The letters
signify
"House of Representatives" and not, as is sometimes
incorrectly
assumed, "House resolution".
A Senate bill is
designated
by the letter "S." followed by its number. The term
"companion
bill" is used to describe a bill introduced in one
House
of Congress that is similar or identical to a bill
introduced
in the other House of Congress.
A
bill that has been agreed to in identical form by both
bodies
becomes the law of the land only after-
(1) Presidential approval; or
(2) failure by the President to return it with
objections to the
House
in which it originated within 10 days while Congress is in
session;
or
(3) the overriding of a presidential veto by a
two-thirds vote
in
each House.
It
does not become law without the President's signature if
Congress
by their final adjournment prevent its return with
objections. This is known as a "pocket
veto". For a discussion
of
presidential action on legislation, see Part XVIII.
Joint
resolutions may originate either in the House of
Representatives
or in the Senate-not, as is sometimes incorrectly
assumed,
jointly in both Houses. There is little
practical
difference
between a bill and a joint resolution and the two
forms
are often used interchangeably. One
difference in form is
that
a joint resolution may include a preamble preceding the
resolving
clause. Statutes that have been
initiated as bills
have
later been amended by a joint resolution and vice versa.
Both
are subject to the same procedure except for a joint
resolution
proposing an amendment to the Constitution.
When a
joint
resolution amending the Constitution is approved by
two-thirds
of both Houses, it is not presented to the President
for
approval. Following congressional
approval, a joint
resolution
to amend the Constitution is sent directly to the
Archivist
of the United States for submission to the several
states
where ratification by the legislatures of three-fourths of
the
states within the period of time prescribed in the joint
resolution
is necessary for the amendment to become part of the
Constitution.
The
form of a House joint resolution is as follows:
JOINT
RESOLUTION
Authorizing,
etc. [as the title may be].
Resolved
by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United
States of America in Congress assembled, That all, etc.
The
resolving clause is identical in both House and Senate
joint
resolutions as prescribed by statute in 1871.
It is
frequently
preceded by a preamble consisting of one or more
"whereas"
clauses indicating the necessity for or the
desirability
of the joint resolution.
A
joint resolution originating in the House of
Representatives
is designated "H.J. Res." followed by its
individual
number which it retains throughout all its
parliamentary
stages. One originating in the Senate
is
designated
"S.J. Res." followed by its number.
Joint
resolutions, with the exception of proposed amendments
to
the Constitution, become law in the same manner as bills.
CONCURRENT
RESOLUTIONS
Matters
affecting the operations of both Houses are usually
initiated
by means of concurrent resolutions. In
modern
practice,
and as determined by the Supreme Court in INS v.
Chadha,
462 U.S. 919 (1983), concurrent and simple resolutions
normally
are not legislative in character since not "presented"
to
the President for approval, but are used merely for expressing
facts,
principles, opinions, and purposes of the two Houses. A
concurrent
resolution is not equivalent to a bill and its use is
narrowly
limited within these bounds.
The
term "concurrent", like "joint", does not signify
simultaneous
introduction and consideration in both Houses.
A
concurrent resolution originating in the House of
Representatives
is designated "H. Con. Res." followed by its
individual
number, while a Senate concurrent resolution is
designated
"S. Con. Res." together with its number. On approval
by
both Houses, they are signed by the Clerk of the House and the
Secretary
of the Senate and transmitted to the Archivist of the
United
States for publication in a special part of the Statutes
at
Large volume covering that session of Congress.
A
matter concerning the rules, the operation, or the opinion
of
either House alone is initiated by a simple resolution. A
resolution
affecting the House of Representatives is designated