Steps Step 1: The bill is drafted Any member of Congress – either from the Senate or the House or Representatives – who has an idea for a law can draft a bill. These ideas come from the Congress members themselves or from everyday citizens and advocacy groups. The primary Congress member supporting the bill is called the "sponsor". The other members who support the bill are called "co-sponsors".
Step 2: The bill is introduced Once the bill is drafted, it must be introduced. If a Representative is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the House. If a Senator is the sponsor, the bill is introduced in the Senate. Once a bill is introduced, it can be found on Congress.gov, which is the official government website that tracks federal legislation.
Step 3: The bill goes to committee As soon as a bill is introduced, it is referred to a committee. Both the House and Senate have various committees composed of groups of Congress members who are particularly interested in different topics such as health or international affairs. When a bill is in the hands of the committee, it is carefully examined and its chances of passage by the entire Congress are determined. The committee may even choose to hold hearings to better understand the implications of the bill. Hearings allow the views of the executive branch, experts, other public officials and supporters, and opponents of the legislation to be put on the record. If the committee does not act on a bill, the bill is considered to be "dead".
Step 4: Subcommittee review of the bill Subcommittees are organized under committees and have further specialization on a certain topic. Often, committees refer bills to a subcommittee for study and their own hearings. The subcommittee may make changes to the bill and must vote to refer a bill back to the full committee.
Step 5: Committee mark up of the bill When the hearings and subcommittee review are completed, the committee will meet to "mark up" the bill. They make changes and amendments prior to recommending the bill to the "floor". If a committee votes not to report legislation to the full chamber of Congress, the bill dies. If the committee votes in favor of the bill, it is reported to the floor. This procedure is called "ordering a bill reported".
Step 6: Voting by the full chamber on the bill Once the bill reaches the floor, there is additional debate and members of the full chamber vote to approve any amendments. The bill is then passed or defeated by the members voting.
Step 7: Referral of the bill to the other chamber When the House or Senate passes a bill, it is referred to the other chamber, where it usually follows the same route through committees and finally to the floor. This chamber may approve the bill as received, reject it, ignore it or change it. Congress may form a conference committee to resolve or reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill. If the conference committee is unable to reach an agreement, the bill dies. If an agreement is reached, the committee members prepare a conference report with recommendations for the final bill. Both the House and Senate must vote to approve the conference report.
Step 8: The bill goes to the president After both the House and Senate have approved a bill in identical form, the bill is sent to the President. If the President approves of the legislation, it is signed and becomes law. If the President takes no action for ten days while Congress is in session, the bill automatically becomes law. If the President opposes the bill, they may veto the bill. In addition, if no action is taken for 10 days and Congress has already adjourned, there is a "pocket veto" .
Step 9: Overriding a veto If the President vetoes a bill, Congress may attempt to override the veto. If both the Senate and the House pass the bill by a two-thirds majority, the President's veto is overruled, and the bill becomes a law.
The fear of a terrorist attack is one that has been rank so high because Americans has made a lot of enemies in this past years such as Russian, North Korea, China and others.
<h3>What is meant by the word terrorist attack?</h3>
A terrorist attack is known to be a kind of violent form of an incident, that is known to be made up of murder and bombing, genocide, etc.
This is known to be an action that is said to be carried out by people who are said to be acting on behalf of their goal or country to attain political aims.
Terrorism is said to be a kind of an unlawful duty that entails the use of force or violence against persons or property .
Therefore, The fear of a terrorist attack is one that has been rank so high because Americans has made a lot of enemies in this past years such as Russian, North Korea, China and others.
Checks and balances refers to a system that is typically used in a democratic society to enforce a balance of power between the three (3) arms of government; executive, judiciary and legislative arm. These checks and balances are really important and necessary so as to ensure there wouldn't be an abuse of power by any of arm of government.
Hence, the senate refusing to ratify a treaty, the president vetoing a law, and the senate rejecting the nomination of a supreme court justice are all examples of checks and balances.
The first 8 amendments stated Criminal Prosecutions, and citizen's restrictions. (for the most part). These all were fair rights that essentially founded the standpoint for the laws of today. Since these were the first amendments. Congress had to get the important and obvious ones out of the way first. This means they are important to the US and it's way of function.
