How a Bill Becomes a Law

Laws are a very crucial part of the world today. They protect us and our rights. However, the making of a law is a very long and arduous process. This process is established in the Constitution of the United States. However most come from a member of Congress. Bills may be presented to either House, but must pass, like many things in the Constitution, there are complications and loopholes. The basic structure has two main steps: the bill must pass through both houses of Congress, then through the President.

A bill is submitted through several sources, but the general method is to be proposed by a member of the House or Senate. It is then referred to the committee that has the most knowledge about the proposed bill. The committee will consider the bill, and if they so chose to support it, they will present the bill to the House of Representatives. The bill is then debated and voted upon. If they vote in favor of the bill, the bill will go back to the senate for another majority vote. Approval from both Houses is required for the bill to be able to pass on to the President of the United States.

Even after the bill has been passed in every House up until the President, the President still has the power to decline to sign the bill. Refusal of the bill by the President is called veto. If the President votes yes, the bill will finally become a law. However, if the President votes no on the bill, then it will travel back to the Congress to be revised. If the President does nothing with the bill for ten days, then it will automatically become a law. Congress may adjourn before those ten days are up, however, and then the bill dies and will not move on to become a law.

This system was developed in a simple, effective way so as to involve several branches of government to ensure that lawmaking is beneficial for the people of the United States. It also allows citizens to become involved. Any law starts as an idea, and if a group of people or even one person feels like something needs to be done to remedy our government, they are able to take the idea to the government.