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36–931 2007
110TH CONGRESS DOCUMENT ” ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 110–49
HOW OUR LAWS ARE MADE
Revised and Updated
By John V. Sullivan, Parliamentarian,
U.S. House of Representatives
Presented by Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania
July 24, 2007.—Ordered to be printed
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H. Con. Res. 190 Agreed to July 25, 2007
One Hundred Tenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, the fourth day of January, two thousand and seven
Concurrent Resolution
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), SECTION 1. HOW OUR LAWS ARE MADE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—An edition of the brochure entitled ‘‘How Our Laws Are Made’’, as revised under the direction of the Parliamen- tarian of the House of Representatives in consultation with the Parliamentarian of the Senate, shall be printed as a House docu- ment under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing.
(b) ADDITIONAL COPIES.—In addition to the usual number, there shall be printed the lesser of—
(1) 550,000 copies of the document, of which 440,000 copies shall be for the use of the House of Representatives, 100,000 copies shall be for the use of the Senate, and 10,000 copies shall be for the use of the Joint Committee on Printing; or
(2) such number of copies of the document as does not exceed a total production and printing cost of $479,247, with distribu- tion to be allocated in the same proportion as described in paragraph (1), except that in no case shall the number of cop- ies be less than 1 per Member of Congress.
Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER,
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Attest: NANCY ERICKSON
Secretary of the Senate.
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EARLIER PRINTINGS
Number Document of copies
1953, H. Doc. 210, 83d Cong. (H. Res. 251 by Mr. Reed) 36,771 1953, H. Doc. 210, 83d Cong. (H. Res. 251 by Mr. Reed) 122,732 1955, H. Doc. 210, 83d Cong. (H. Con. Res. 93 by Mr.
Willis) ……………………………………………………………………. 167,728 1956, H. Doc. 451, 84th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 251 by Mr.
Willis) ……………………………………………………………………. 30,385 1956, S. Doc. 152, 84th Cong. (S. Res. 293 by Senator
Kennedy) ……………………………………………………………….. 182,358 1959, H. Doc. 156, 86th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 95 by Mr.
Lesinski) ………………………………………………………………… 228,591 1961, H. Doc. 136, 87th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 81 by Mr.
Willis) ……………………………………………………………………. 211,797 1963, H. Doc. 103, 88th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 108 by Mr.
Willis) ……………………………………………………………………. 14,000 1965, H. Doc. 103, 88th Cong. (S. Res. 9 by Senator
Mansfield) ………………………………………………………………. 196,414 1965, H. Doc. 164, 89th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 165 by Mr.
Willis) ……………………………………………………………………. 319,766 1967, H. Doc. 125, 90th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 221 by Mr.
Willis) ……………………………………………………………………. 324,821 1969, H. Doc. 127, 91st Cong. (H. Con. Res. 192 by Mr.
Celler) ……………………………………………………………………. 174,500 1971, H. Doc. 144, 92d Cong. (H. Con. Res. 206 by Mr.
Celler) ……………………………………………………………………. 292,000 1972, H. Doc. 323, 92d Cong. (H. Con. Res. 530 by Mr.
Celler) ……………………………………………………………………. 292,500 1974, H. Doc. 377, 93d Cong. (H. Con. Res. 201 by Mr.
Rodino) …………………………………………………………………… 246,000 1976, H. Doc. 509, 94th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 540 by Mr.
Rodino) …………………………………………………………………… 282,400 1978, H. Doc. 259, 95th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 190 by Mr.
Rodino) …………………………………………………………………… 298,000 1980, H. Doc. 352, 96th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 95 by Mr.
Rodino) …………………………………………………………………… 298,000 1981, H. Doc. 120, 97th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 106 by Mr.
Rodino) …………………………………………………………………… 298,000 1985, H. Doc. 158, 99th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 203 by Mr.
Rodino) …………………………………………………………………… 298,000
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Number Document of copies
1989, H. Doc. 139, 101st Cong. (H. Con. Res. 193 by Mr. Brooks) …………………………………………………………………… 323,000
1997, H. Doc. 14, 105th Cong. (S. Con. Res. 62 by Sen- ator Warner) ………………………………………………………….. 387,000
2000, H. Doc. 197, 106th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 221 by Mr. Thomas) …………………………………………………………………. 550,000
2003, H. Doc. 93, 108th Cong. (H. Con. Res. 139 by Mr. Ney) ……………………………………………………………………….. 550,000
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FOREWORD
First published in 1953 by the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, this 24th edition of ‘‘How Our Laws Are Made’’ reflects changes in congressional procedures since the 23rd edition, which was revised and updated in 2003. This edition was prepared by the Office of the Parliamentarian of the U.S. House of Representatives in consultation with the Office of the Parliamen- tarian of the U.S. Senate.
The framers of our Constitution created a strong federal govern- ment 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.’’ Article I, Section 5, of the Constitution provides that: ‘‘Each House may de- termine the Rules of its Proceedings, . . .’’.
Upon this elegant, yet simple, grant of legislative powers and rulemaking authority has grown an exceedingly complex and evolv- ing legislative process—much of it unique to each House of Con- gress. To aid the public’s understanding of the legislative process, we have revised this popular brochure. For more detailed informa- tion on how our laws are made and for the text of the laws them- selves, the reader should refer to government internet sites or per- tinent House and Senate publications available from the Super- intendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Wash- ington, D.C. 20402.
JOHN V. SULLIVAN.
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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
Page
I. Introduction ………………………………………………………….. 1 II. The Congress ………………………………………………………… 1
III. Sources of Legislation ……………………………………………. 4 IV. Forms of Congressional Action ……………………………….. 5
Bills …………………………………………………………………. 5 Joint Resolutions ………………………………………………. 6 Concurrent Resolutions …………………………………….. 7 Simple Resolutions ……………………………………………. 8
V. Introduction and Referral to Committee …………………. 8 VI. Consideration by Committee ………………………………….. 11
Committee Meetings …………………………………………. 11 Public Hearings ………………………………………………… 12 Markup …………………………………………………………….. 14 Final Committee Action …………………………………….. 14 Points of Order With Respect to Committee Hear-
ing Procedure …………………………………………….. 15 VII. Reported Bills ……………………………………………………….. 15
Contents of Reports …………………………………………… 16 Filing of Reports ……………………………………………….. 18 Availability of Reports and Hearings …………………. 18
VIII. Legislative Oversight by Standing Committees ……….. 18 IX. Calendars ……………………………………………………………… 19
Union Calendar ………………………………………………… 19 House Calendar ………………………………………………… 20 Private Calendar ………………………………………………. 20 Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees …… 20
X. Obtaining Consideration of Measures …………………….. 20 Unanimous Consent ………………………………………….. 21 Special Resolution or ‘‘Rule’’ ………………………………. 21 Consideration of Measures Made in Order by Rule
Reported From the Committee on Rules ………. 22 Motion to Discharge Committee ………………………… 22 Motion to Suspend the Rules …………………………….. 23 Calendar Wednesday ………………………………………… 24 District of Columbia Business ……………………………. 24 Questions of Privilege ……………………………………….. 24
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Privileged Matters …………………………………………….. 25 XI. Consideration and Debate ……………………………………… 25
Committee of the Whole ……………………………………. 26 Second Reading ………………………………………………… 27 Amendments and the Germaneness Rule …………… 28 Congressional Earmarks …………………………………… 28 The Committee ‘‘Rises’’ ……………………………………… 28 House Action …………………………………………………….. 29 Motion to Recommit ………………………………………….. 29 Quorum Calls and Rollcalls ……………………………….. 30 Voting ………………………………………………………………. 31 Electronic Voting ………………………………………………. 33 Pairing of Members …………………………………………… 33 System of Lights and Bells ………………………………… 33 Recess Authority ………………………………………………. 34 Live Coverage of Floor Proceedings ……………………. 34
XII. Congressional Budget Process ………………………………… 35 XIII. Engrossment and Message to Senate ……………………… 36 XIV. Senate Action ………………………………………………………… 37
Committee Consideration ………………………………….. 37 Chamber Procedure ………………………………………….. 38
XV. Final Action on Amended Bill ………………………………… 41 Request for a Conference …………………………………… 42 Authority of Conferees ………………………………………. 43 Meetings and Action of Conferees ……………………… 44 Conference Reports …………………………………………… 46 Custody of Papers …………………………………………….. 48
XVI. Bill Originating in Senate ………………………………………. 49 XVII. Enrollment ……………………………………………………………. 49
XVIII. Presidential Action ………………………………………………… 50 Veto Message ……………………………………………………. 51 Line Item Veto ………………………………………………….. 52
XIX. Publication ……………………………………………………………. 52 Slip Laws …………………………………………………………. 53 Statutes at Large ……………………………………………… 53 United States Code …………………………………………… 54
Appendix ………………………………………………………………………….. 55
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HOW OUR LAWS ARE MADE
I. INTRODUCTION
This brochure is intended to provide a basic outline of the nu- merous steps of our federal lawmaking process from the source of an idea for a legislative proposal through its publication as a stat- ute. The legislative process is a matter about which every person should be well informed in order to understand and appreciate the work of Congress.
It is hoped that this guide will enable readers 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 minor- ity, 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 Representa- tives, this discussion will focus principally on the procedure in that body.
II. THE CONGRESS
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 accord- ance 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 an inhabitant 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
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