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In this lesson, students investigate bills under consideration by the United States Congress and gain an understanding of the legislative process by creating a flow chart that tracks the movement of a bill. On This PageLesson plan|
School level | | • | Middle school (11–13 years old) |
| Subjects | | Class time | | • | 3–4 classes (45-minute periods) spread over several weeks |
| Software required | | • | Microsoft Office Visio 2007 | | • | Microsoft Office Word 2007 |
| Materials needed | |
Teacher guideGoals| • | Students gain an understanding of the legislative process of the United States government. |
Objectives| • | Students track one bill sponsored by either a senator or a house representative from their state. | | • | Students create a flow chart, using Microsoft Office Visio 2007, to track the status of their bill. |
Lesson procedureIntroductionThe journey a bill takes to become enacted as a law by the legislative branch of our government can be very brief or very long. Many bills that are introduced never become laws. The U.S. Constitution lays out the general process by which a bill becomes law, but many of the details of this process can vary. These are the general steps: Step 1. Although bills may originate in a number of ways, a bill is usually introduced by an individual member of either the Senate or the House of Representatives.
Step 2. After it has been introduced, a bill is assigned to the appropriate House or Senate committee or subcommittee for hearings. After hearings have been held, the committee or subcommittee votes on whether to approve the bill. If it is not approved, the bill dies. If it is approved, it proceeds to the next step.
Step 3. An approved bill is then sent to the whole House or full Senate. Amendments may be made at this time. After discussion, the bill is voted on. If it is not approved, it may be sent back to committee. If a bill is approved, it is sent to the next step.
Step 4. After a bill has been approved by the house of origin, it is sent to the other house for approval.
Step 5. Bills approved by both houses of the legislature must be checked for accuracy. A conference may be called to reconcile minor differences in versions of the bill. If differences cannot be reconciled, the bill may die. If the differences are reconciled, the bill moves on to the next step.
Step 6. Reconciled bills go to the President to be signed. If the President vetoes the bill, it may be sent back to the legislature for another vote to override the veto. If the President signs the bill, it becomes law. If the President does not veto or sign the bill within 10 days, it becomes law.
Step 7. The law is sent to the Archivist of the United States, who assigns it a number.
Step 8. The law is published.
In this activity, you will investigate current legislation under consideration by the U.S. Congress. You will choose a bill that has been sponsored by one of your U.S. senators or one of your U.S. representatives and track it using a flow chart. Please make sure that you understand the general process of how a bill moves through the legislative process before you begin your flow chart. A good site to review the process we just summarized of how bills become laws is Constitutional Topic: How a Bill Becomes a Law. Main activity[Teachers: Please download the Student handout for details on the main activities for this lesson plan: | • | Student handout (Microsoft Office Word document, 18 KB) includes "Track a legislative bill using a flowchart." |
Conclusion| • | Review students' flowcharts. | | • | Ask students to describe verbally or in writing the process for a bill to become law. |
Materials neededLesson extension activities| • | For each action on the bill, have the students research: | • | The committees that review the bill. | | • | The voting history of bill sponsors and co-sponsors. | | • | The arguments for and against the bill. |
| | • | Have students research the history of one recent controversial bill. The govtrack.us site enables you to search for legislation back to 1993 by subject and other keywords. | | • | Have students research the bills that became laws in the last two decades and look for trends. For example, is there evidence of an increase or decrease in the number of bills and laws regarding health care, immigration, firearms, or families? What other issues are frequently discussed? | | • | Have students research the basic legislative process of a bill becoming law in another country and compare that country's process to the one in the United States. |
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