Matthew Gernsteinⁱ

Many of us remember the Saturday morning "School House Rock" educational commercial "I'm Just a Bill". Advocates, however, may want to be a bit more familiar with the details of the legislative process. This guide will help advocates create strategies and identify opportunities to ensure that issues affecting you are best represented in the U.S. Congress.

The Legislative Process

Introduction
Any member of the House of Representatives or any Senator may introduce a bill in his or her respective chamber at any time while the chamber is in session. The person introducing the bill is the sponsor of the bill, and other members or Senators may sign onto the bill as cosponsors. After the bill is introduced, the bill is assigned its legislative number (a number beginning with an "H.R." for a bill introduced in the House and a number beginning with "S." for a bill introduced in the Senate) and referred to the committee with jurisdiction over the subject matter of the bill. The bill may be referred to more than one committee if the subject matter is within the jurisdiction of multiple committees.

Committee Action
Once a bill is referred to a committee, the committee decides when and whether to take additional action on the bill. If the committee takes no action on the bill before the end of the term of Congress, the bill "dies" and must be reintroduced in the next Congress.

In the House of Representatives, the committee will typically refer the bill to one of its subcommittees. The subcommittee may request reports from government agencies or departments, hold hearings, revise the bill, and report the bill back to the full committee. The Senate may also refer the bill to a subcommittee, but more frequently deals with the bill at the full committee level.

During consideration of a bill by the full committee, the following actions may be taken:

• Hearings - Hearing are held to gather information from experts and the public about bills. The committee chair determines the agenda and selects witnesses. The minority typically works informally with the majority to invite witnesses representing its views. Most committees have rules that allow the minority-party members of a committee to call witnesses of their choice on at least one day of a hearing.

• Markup - A markup is a meeting of the committee to debate and consider amendments to the bill. Amendments may be offered by any member on the committee. An amendment offered by the chair of the committee is often called the chair's mark and is voted on before other amendments. If a majority of the members present at the markup vote to accept an amendment, the amendment becomes part of the bill.

• Reporting to the House or Senate - During a markup, the committee decides whether to report the bill to the full House or Senate. The committee may report the bill with no amendments, with amendments, or with a complete substitute amendment which replaces the entire text of the bill. The committee may also decide to report an original bill in lieu of the bill which it marked up. The original bill addresses the same topic as the bill that was marked up, but it is assigned a new bill number. A committee generally prepares an accompanying written report that describes the purposes and provisions of the measure when they report it to the full body. The committee report describes the purpose and scope of the measure and the reasons for recommended approval. House Report numbers are prefixed with "H.Rpt." and Senate Reports are prefixed with "S.Rpt." and then a number indicating the Congress (currently the 109th).

Floor Consideration: The House

Consideration of a measure by the full House can be a simple or complex operation. In general, a measure is ready for consideration by the full House after it has been reported by a committee.

If the bill is not controversial, it may be considered under a process called "suspension of the rules." Under suspension of the rules, no amendments are permitted and the bill needs the support of 2/3 of the House in order to pass.

The consideration of more complex bills is usually governed by a "rule". A rule is a simple resolution, which must be passed by the House, sets out the particulars of debate for a specific bill - how much time will be 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.

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 before final passage. This is usually an effort by opponents to change some portion or table the measure by sending it back to the committee of jurisdiction. If the attempt to recommit fails, a vote on final passage is ordered.

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.

If the bill is passed, it is considered engrossed. It is then delivered to the Senate for action. If the bill was previously passed by the Senate and the House has not amended it in any way, it is considered enrolled and is then submitted to the President for signature.

Floor Consideration: The Senate

A bill reported from a Senate committee is placed on the legislative calendar. By custom, the majority leader of the Senate controls the calendar and decides when the Senate will consider the measure. A bill that is not controversial may pass the Senate by unanimous consent if no Senator objects to its passage. More significant bills are often subject to debate and amendment by other Senators after they are called up from the calendar.

Amendment and Debate
Consideration of a bill in the Senate can be a complicated process and my take a number of forms:

• Filibusters - The normal Senate rules provide for unlimited debate on a bill. Thus, no vote on any amendment to or final passage of a bill may take place until all Senators are done speaking on the bill. In some instances, Senators may attempt to prevent a vote on a bill through extended debate. This is known as a filibuster.

• Amendments - In the Senate, there are no limits to the number or scope of amendments that may be offered to a bill under consideration. Once offered, an amendment is subject to unlimited debate.

• Cloture - Cloture is the name of the mechanism used to cut off debate on a bill. If a cloture petition is filed, 60 Senators must vote in favor of the petition to cut off debate and end the filibuster. If cloture is invoked, subsequent debate on the bill is limited and all amendments must pertain to the subject of the bill.

• Time agreements - In order to give structure to the debate on a bill, the Senate may by unanimous consent impose time limits on the consideration of a bill or limits on the number and scope of amendments that may be offered to the bill. Under a time agreement, time is allotted equally to Senators supporting and opposing the bill. When the time is up, the Senate will vote on final passage of the bill.

The Senate may vote by division, voice vote, or recorded vote. There is no electronic system for recording votes in the Senate. Instead, the clerk calls the name of each Senator, and the Senator indicates his or her vote.

Resolving Differences Between House and Senate Versions of a Bill: The Conference Committee

A bill cannot become a law until it has been approved in identical form by both houses of Congress. Once the Senate amends and agrees to a bill that the House already has passed - or the House amends and passes a Senate bill - the two houses may begin to resolve their legislative differences in a conference committee or through an exchange of amendments between the houses.

If the Senate does not accept the House's position, or vice versa, one of the chambers may propose creation of a conference committee to negotiate and resolve the matters in disagreement between the two chambers. The presiding officer of the Senate formally appoints the Senate's conferees and the Speaker of the House names the House conferees. Conferees are traditionally drawn from the committee of jurisdiction, but conferees representing other interests may also be appointed.

• There are no formal rules that outline how conference meetings are to be organized. Routinely, the principals from each chamber or their respective staffs conduct pre-conference meetings so as to expedite the bargaining process when the conference formally convenes.

• Once the two chambers go to conference, the respective House and Senate conferees bargain and negotiate to resolve the disagreement.

• Resolution is embodied in a conference report, signed by a majority of Senate conferees and House conferees. The conference also produces a Statement of Managers that accompanies the conference reports and explains the compromises the conferees agreed and how the bill affects current law.

• The conference report must be agreed to by both chambers before it is cleared for presidential consideration.

Almost all of the most important measures are sent to conference, but these are only a minority of the bills that the two houses pass each year.

After the Senate and House resolve all their disagreements concerning a bill or joint resolution, all the original papers are transmitted to the enrolling clerk of the originating chamber and is signed by the Speaker of the House and by either the Vice President (who is the President of the Senate) or the authorized presiding officer of the Senate. The enrolled bill then goes to the President for his approval or veto.

Presidential Action

Every Bill, which passed the House and the Senate, is presented to the President for his or her signature. If the President approves and signs the measure within 10 days, it becomes law. The 10-day period begins on midnight of the day the President receives the measure, and Sundays are not counted.

If the President objects to a measure, she or he may veto it by returning it to its chamber of origin together with a statement of objections, again within the same 10-day period. Unless both chambers subsequently vote by a 2/3 majority to override the veto, the measure does not become law.

If the President does not act on a measure - approving or vetoing it - within 10 days, the fate of the measure depends on whether Congress is in session. If Congress is in session, the bill becomes law without the President's approval. If Congress is not in session, the measure does not become law. Presidential inaction when Congress is not in session is known as a pocket veto.

Resources
The House of Representatives - http://www.house.gov
The United States Senate - http://www.senate.gov
Legislation - http://Thomas.loc.gov
The Legislative Process - http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/legprocessflowchart.pdf

i Matthew Gernstein is an attorney at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. Previously, he was a program associate with the University of Iowa's Law, Health Policy and Disability Center. A lifelong Washingtonian, Mr. Gernstein has over 10 years experience advocating on a variety of disability, health care, technology, and acquisition issues before the federal government and congress. Mr. Gernstein received his J.D. from the College of William and Mary and his B.A. from Kenyon College.