Congress 1
Private bills deal with
individual people or places.
If a bill does not pass before the end of a congressional term, it must be
reintroduced in the next Congress.
Most bills die in Congress & some are rejected by
the president.
Of the thousands of bills introduced in each session, only ____________become laws.
a few 100
If the committee accepts the bill,
it can recommend that the bill be
1.adopted as introduced,
2.make changes,
3.or completely rewrite the bill
before sending it back to the _____________for further action.
House or Senate
A __________________covers matters affecting only 1 house of Congress & is passed by that house alone.
It is not a law and does not need to be signed by the president.
simple resolution
Examples of public bills include____________
a.raising or lowering taxes
b.national health insurance
c.gun control
d.civil rights
e.abortion
Major public bills may be debated for _____ before they become law.
months
___________deal with general matters and apply to the entire nation.
Public bills
When a committee decides to act on a bill, the committee or subcommittee can hold _____________on the bill which are sessions at which a committee listens to testimony from people interested in the bill.
hearings
Less than _________of all bills introduced in Congress become laws for the following reasons:
10%
A ____________ is a provision on a subject other than the one covered in the bill.
rider
_____________________cover matters requiring the action of both the House & Senate but on which a law is not needed.
It does not require the president’s signature and is not a law.
Concurrent resolutions
A_______________ is passed by both houses
requires the president’s signature
and has the force of law.
joint resolution
After all changes are made, the committee votes to kill the bill or _________ it which is to send it to the House or Senate for action.
report
In the House, a representative drops the bill into a ______________
a box near the clerk’s desk.
hopper
The ideas for new bills can come from___________________
private citizens, interest groups, the president, or officials in the executive branch.
bills that powerful interest groups ________are not likely to pass.
oppose
Without strong ___________, most major bills have little chance of getting through.
support
During the floor debate, the bill receives its 2nd reading when
a clerk reads the bill section by section.
After each section is read, _____________may be offered.
amendments
The committee can also kill the bill by ___________
a majority vote.
The committee chairperson may send the bill to a subcommittee, or the committee can ignore the bill and let it die.
This is called ____________________
“pigeonholing.”
Each bill is given a title and a number, printed & distributed to ________________
lawmakers.
In the Senate, the _____________must first recognize the senator who then presents the bill.
presiding officer
After the floor debate, the bill, including any proposed changes, is ready for a vote.
A __________or majority of the members, must be present.
quorum