The bill begins as ideas which can be from the citizens, senator, or the representatives of the constitution and when the representatives agree, they discuss the ideas and formulate them into bills. The bill is then sent to the clerk of the U.S House or the Senate where it is placed in a hopper box, and the clerk assigns a number and a title with the Human Resource. The clerk then reads the bill to all the representatives and, the bill is sent to one of the House standing committees by the speaker so that they can review and vote on the bill. The committees consist of individuals who have specialized in different fields including foreign relations or agriculture, and may be a small group of senators or the representatives. The committees can decide to reject the bill and “table” it, which means that the bill will never be discussed again. On the other hand, the bill can be voted for, and listen to the facts and opinions and make some few changes and caste votes in its favor and sent again to the House and the Senate for debate (Hamilton, 2010).

The Senate and the House debate on the bill separately, making some amendments and casting votes. However, if either the Senate or the House defeats the bill, then it dies. Sometime, the House and the Senate can pass the bill to the conference committee comprising members of Congress, but with different amendments. If such a case happens, the conference committee looks into the two different versions and sends them before of all Congress for a vote. If majority of the House or the Senate agree and vote for the bill, it is taken to the president for approval. The president may approve the bill and sign it; when that happens, the bill becomes a law. On the contrary, in case the president disapproves the bill, he can veto the bill by refusing to sign it; Congress can overrule president’s veto and it is taken to the House and the Senate for a vote. When two-third of the majority votes are cast in favor of the bill by the members of the Senate and the House, the bill becomes a law (Hamilton, 2010).

References

Hamilton, J. (2010). How a bill becomes a law. New York, NY: ABDO Publishing Company