The Legislative Process

What is a bill?

• a piece of the Constitution

• a piece of legislation that is yet to become law

What is the Rules Committee?

• committee in the House that writes the bills

• committee in the Senate that writes the rules for what can be in bills

• committee in the Senate that decides on the rules for debate on the Floor

• committee in the House that decides in the rules for debate on the Floor

What does the Conference Committee do?

• makes a compromise bill that has parts of both the House version of the bill and the Senate version of the bill, which the entire Congress votes on

• makes a compromise version of the bill from the House, which the House then votes again on

• makes a compromise version of the bill from the Senate, which the Senate then votes again on

• makes a compromise bill that is not voted on again but is sent directly to the President to be signed

Who can write a bill?

• only Congress

• only the President

• anyone

Which chamber of Congress allows its members to filibuster in debate?

• House

• Senate

What happens in a committee or subcommittee hearing?

• the committee allows non-experts and citizens, including members of interest groups, to speak on the legislation so they can gain insight into the views of others on the bill

• the committee allows just congress members to speak about why they do not want the bill to pass, to gain insight into the issues present in the legislation

What is the only way to stop a filibuster?

• the President says to stop

• the House Rules Committee forces them to stop

• the Senate votes for Cloture

What is a pigeon-hole or pocket veto?

• the President ignores the bill for 10 days, and Congress can pick it back up and pass it

• the President ignores the bill for 10 days, knowing that Congress is not going to be in session, so they cannot pick the bill back up

In the Presidential Cabinet, what is the Department of Interior responsible for?

• agriculture and commerce

• all the money and taxation

• national security, foreign policy

• public lands, natural resources, working with Native Americans

Which of these is a place from which the founding fathers got their ideas for the new government?

• Isaac Newton

• Articles of Confederation

• John Locke

• King George III