Legislative Process Overview

"All Legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives."
(Article I, Section 1, of the United States Constitution)

The legislative process is more complicated than taught in most civic courses. Visit the Web site of the Center on Congress, Indiana University, for an extensive discussion of the legislative process covering the following topics:

bill introduction

referral to committee(s)

committee hearings

committee mark-up

committee report

scheduling legislation house: special rules, suspension of the rules, or privileged matter

senate: unanimous consent agreements or motions to proceed

floor debate

floor amendment

vote on final passage

reconciling differences between the House and Senate

amendments between the houses, or

conference committee negotiations

floor debate on conference report

floor vote on conference report

conference version presented to the president

president signs into law or allows bill to become law without his signature

president vetoes bill

first chamber vote on overriding veto

second chamber vote on overriding veto

bill becomes law if 2/3 vote to override is achieved in both chambers

bill fails to become law if one chamber fails to override

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Robert H. Michel: U.S. Congressman
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Congressional Timeline

For each Congress beginning with the 73rd (1933-35), this timeline features session dates, partisan composition, the presidential administration, a list of congressional leaders, and notable legislation passed...More

73rd Congress: March 9, 1933 - June 18, 1934

73rd Congress: March 9, 1933, to June 18, 1934

A meeting of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. The first session of Congress, known as the "Hundred Days," took place before the regular seating and was called by President Roosevelt specifically to pass two acts. March 9, 1933, The Emergency Banking Act...More

74th Congress: January 3, 1935 - June 20, 1936

The Soil and Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act allowed the government to pay farmers to reduce production so as to conserve soil, prevent erosion, and accomplish other minor goals. It was a piece of legislation passed in response to the Supreme Court's declaration....More

75th Congress: January 5, 1937 - June 16, 1938

In 1938 the Civil Aeronautics Act transferred federal responsibilities for non-military aviation from the Bureau of Air Commerce to a new, independent agency, the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The legislation also gave the authority the power to regulate airline fares and to determine...More

76th Congress: January 3, 1939 - January 3, 1941

On November 4, 1939, the Neutrality Act of 1939 was passed, allowing for arms trade with belligerent nations on a cash and carry basis, thus in effect ending the arms embargo. ...More

77th Congress: January 3, 1941, to December 16, 1942

The Lend-Lease Act was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of the European war in September 1939, but six months before the U.S. entrance into the war in December 1941. It was called An Act Further to Promote the Defense of the United States...More

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Dirksen Center Special Projects

Dirksen Center Special Projects is a series of multi-media projects rich in Web-based resources on a variety of topics from civil rights to editorial cartoons. We have posted them where it makes sense within our Web suite. But as the suite has grown, we suspect it has become more difficult to find these special projects.

To make them stand out, we have created the Dirksen Center Special Projects web page to host links to all our special projects listed below.

CongressLink

About CongressLink

Today's Congress

Congress: The Basics

Congress: Teaching It