The process of enacting legislation is tedious and time-consuming. The first thing which must happen is the writing, or drafting, of the bill. The bill will have a sponsor, someone who introduces the bill to the Congress, and sometimes a co-sponsor. The sponsor must be a member of Congress, of either the House of Representatives or the Senate. The text of the bill must cover every conceivable aspect of the bill in order to avoid being deadlocked in committee for months or years. The bill will have an official name as well as a short name and a popular name. When the bill has been formally introduced, it will also be assigned a number and officially printed in the Congressional Record.
All bills, or resolutions, must then be referred to a House or Senate Committee. After the bill is considered by a committee, or maybe a sub-committee depending on the type of bill, it will either be approved and will move forward to the full House or Senate for a vote or it will be allowed to die. The majority of bills die by never being passed on by a committee to the respective branch of Congress. Bills that do survive the scrutiny and debate of the committee or sub-committee will be sent to the Congress to be placed on a voting schedule which is chronologically ordered. Then the bill will be discussed and debated by both chambers of Congress and then, when the bill is decided on favorably, it is sent to the President who has the power to veto, or not sign the bill into law.
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