How to Understand the Congressional Committee System

Much of the day-to-day business of Congressional members involves committee work. In the standing committees, or permanent committees in Congress, representatives and Senators do the hard work of determining whether a bill should go forward into law, how it should be changed or what effect it will have once enacted into law. A member of Congress must first sponsor a bill before a committee can consider it. Read on to learn more.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Any member of the House or the Senate can introduce a bill for consideration. The House members place the bill in a box called the "hopper" while the House is in session if they want it considered. Senate members either give it to a Senate clerk or they announce it from the floor if they want to bring special attention to the bill.

2. Standing committees exist in both the House and the Senate. Each bill will be referred to at least one committee for consideration. Multiple committees may consider various parts of the same bill if the bill contains proposed legislation under the jurisdiction of more than one committee.

3. In order to consider whether to recommend the bill to the full House or Senate, committees will often gather information. Frequently committees will ask for reports from relevant governmental agencies and departments in order to decide whether to recommend a bill to the full House or Senate. Committees will also often hold hearings about the bill and hear from experts regarding the impact of the bill.

4. Frequently if a committee decides not to recommend a bill to the full House or Senate, it will simply table it, or stop discussion of it, and the bill will go no further. The proponent of the bill is welcome to re-introduce it at a later time.

5. A committee will often issue a report regarding the bill when the committee recommends the full House or Senate consider the bill. This is known as "reporting out" the bill.

6. Members of the House or Senate debate the bill if the committee sends it along for consideration. The bill may be amended during the debate process. If the bill does survive a vote in either the House or the Senate, then it passes to the other chamber to undergo a vote.

7. Where one chamber amends the bill that came from the other chamber and then votes to approve the bill, the bill heads to a conference committee. Committee members from either chamber familiar with the bill often sit as part of the conference committee to draft a compromise version of the bill that both chambers can approve.

8. If both chambers pass the bill, then the bill goes to the President who can sign it, allow it to become law without a signature within ten days (excluding Sundays), veto it, or "pocket veto" it. If the President vetoes a bill, it goes back to the House or Senate, whichever chamber originated it, with the President's objections. A "pocket veto" occurs when the President does not sign a bill but Congress adjourns within ten days of it being sent to the President.

Tips & Warnings

• Congress can override a President's veto if each chamber of Congress votes to pass a bill by a two-thirds vote of its members.

Resources

• Visit the United States Senate website for more information on Senate committees.
• Visit the House of Representatives website for more information on House of Representatives committees.
• The Library of Congress website also has information on Congressional committees.