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All laws in the USA begin as bills, and before they can become laws they have to be approved by the US house of representatives, the US
senate, and the president.
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Laws begin as ideas. these ideas can come from a representative or from a citizen. citizens who have ideas for new laws can contact their representative. If the representative agrees they will research the idea and write it into a bill.
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when a Rep has written the bill, the bill needs a sponsor.
the Rep talks with other Reps about the bill, in hope of getting their support for it. once the bill has a sponsor and the support of the Reps, it is ready to be introduced.
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In the house of Reps a bill is introduced when it is placed in the hopper box. Only Reps can introduce bills in the US house of Reps. After the bill is introduced, a reading clerk reads the bill to the Reps, and speaker of the house sends the bill to one of the house standing committees.
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When the bill reaches the committee, the committee review the research and revise the bill before voting on weather or not to send the bill back to the house floor.if the committee wants more info the send it to the subcommittee. their they have experts that are closely examining the bill before it is sent back to the committee.
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After the committee has approved the bill it is sent or reported to the house floor. once reported the bill is ready to be debated on by the house of Reps.
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When the bill is debated, Reps discus the bill, and explain why they agree or disagree with it. then a reading clerk reads it section by section and the Reps recommend changes. after all of the changes have been made the bill is ready to be voted on.
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their are three methods of voting.
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1. Via Voce(voice vote)
the speaker of the house asks the Reps who support the bill to say "aye" and those that oppose to sat "no"
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2. Division
the speaker asks those Reps who support the bill to stand up and be counted, and then those that oppose the bill to stand up and be counted.
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3. Recorded
the Reps record their votes with an electronic voting system. The Reps can vote yes, no, or present( if they don't want to vote on the bill. If the majority of the Reps say or select yes the bill passes in the US house of Reps. the bill is then certified by the clerk of the house and delivered to the US senate.
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When the bill reaches the US senate, it goes through many of the same steps it went through in the US house of Reps. the bill is discussed in a senate committee and then reported to the senate floor to be voted on. The senators vote by voice. those that support the bill say "yea" and those that oppose say "nay" if a majority of the senators voted "yea" then the bill passes in the US Senate and is ready to go to the president.
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when a bill reaches the president, he has three choices.
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1. sign and pass the bill
(the bill becomes a law)
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2. Refuse to sign, or veto the bill(the bill is sent back to the US house of Reps, along with the presidents reasons for the veto. If the US house of Reps and the US senate still believe the bill should become a law, they can hold another vote on the bill, and if two-thirds of the Reps and senators support the bill, the presidents veto is automatically overridden.
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3. Do nothing (pocket veto. if congress is in session, the bill automatically becomes a law after 10 days. if congress is not in session the bill dose not become a law.
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if the bill has been passed in both the US house of Reps and the US senate and has been approved by the president, or if a presidents veto has been overridden, the bill becomes a law and is enforced by the government.
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How a Bill becomes a law
More flowcharts
