The U.S. Congress is the legislative body of the U.S. government, so the U.S. legislative procedure is actually the legislative procedure of the U.S. Congress. The United States Congress is divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives has 435 members, each representing a congressional district, serving a two-year term. The seats of members of the House of Representatives are calculated in proportion to the population of each state. For example, California has a large population and many constituencies, so there are 53 members representing California in the House of Representatives. On the contrary, Wyoming is sparsely populated despite its vast territory, so the whole state is a congressional district with only one seat in the House of Representatives. The Senate is different. Regardless of the size and population of a state, each state has two senators, so the Senate always has 65,438+000 seats, and each senator's term of office is six years. The legislative procedure of the US Congress is roughly as follows:

1. Legislative proposals

The legislative process of the United States Congress began with the drafting of legislation. In the United States, anyone can draft legislation, but only members of Congress can formally introduce any new legislation in Congress. Under normal circumstances, draft legislation is drafted by members of Congress and their assistants. These members will understand the voters' thoughts on certain issues during their constituency elections and assure voters that if elected, they will introduce the draft legislation supported by voters in Congress.

Senators and congressmen are elected to Congress by voters, and one of their main duties is to make laws. In addition, voters of members, whether individuals or organizations, can also transmit the draft legislation to members representing geographical constituencies. At the same time, the executive branch of the United States, including the president and cabinet members of the United States, can also submit draft legislation to the speaker of the House of Representatives or the speaker of the Senate. This source of legislation is called "administrative communication". According to the Constitution of the United States, the President of the United States must report the "state of the nation" to Congress, which is why the President must deliver a State of the Union address to Congress every year. The president usually takes this opportunity to introduce a bill to Congress. After the State of the Union address is published, the President will formally submit his draft legislation to the relevant committee of Congress, and the chairman of the committee will usually immediately submit his original or revised version to Congress.

2. Types of proposals

There are four types of suggestions. These four forms include motion, joint resolution, simultaneous resolution and simple resolution. In the Senate and the House of Representatives, most legislation is put forward in the form of "bills". For example, from 200/KLOC-0 to 2002, the Senate and the House of Representatives proposed a total of 8,948 bills and joint resolutions 178. Among these bills, the House of Representatives proposed 5767 bills and 125 joint resolutions. There is not much difference between "joint resolution" and "bill". Both of them need to go through the same legislative procedure, but the revision of the US Constitution must be proposed in the form of a joint resolution. After the resolution is passed by a two-thirds majority of the House of Representatives and the Senate, it will be sent directly to the Director of Administration, who will send it to the States for approval without the approval of the President. A joint resolution becomes law like a bill.

As for * * * the same resolution and simple resolution are handled differently from motions or joint resolutions. These two kinds of proposals are usually not related to the formulation of American laws, but to the rules of procedure, operation and expression of views of the two houses. Therefore, when the two houses pass such a resolution, it will not be submitted to the President for approval.

* * * The resolution is not binding. The * * * resolution proposed by the House of Representatives will be signed by members of the House of Representatives for the record after it is passed by the whole house. Resolutions passed by the Senate will be handed over to the secretary of the Senate for signature, and resolutions passed by the two houses will not be submitted to the President for action. During the session of the National Assembly, any member can introduce new legislation. After receiving the new legislation, the relevant units of the House of Representatives will number the draft legislation, and then send the legislative suggestions to the committees or subcommittees related to legislation for the members of the group to consider the draft.

3. Committees and hearings

According to the introduction of the Library of Congress, the most important step in the legislative process in the United States may be the action of the committee. At this stage, members of the Committee or its Subcommittee will thoroughly consider, carefully study and debate the proposed draft legislation. If the legislative issue is important enough, the Committee will hold a public hearing to find out the opinions of both sides on this legislation. Next, committee members will vote on the new legislation to decide what action to take. Committee members can amend the proposed legislation, and then Committee members will vote on whether to approve these amendments. If this legislation is not passed at the Committee stage, its life will be over.

4. The whole hospital voted to coordinate the two houses.

Legislation approved by most members of the Committee will be sent to the whole House of Representatives, where all members can deliberate, debate and vote on the legislation. This legislation will be sent to the Senate for consideration after the House of Representatives has passed due process voting. If the Senate amends the legislation of the House of Representatives, the whole amended legislation must be sent back to the House of Representatives for deliberation. The House of Representatives and the Senate sometimes have different views on the same issue, such as the immigration bill that has been heated up in the United States recently.

5. Signed by the President

When the members of the Conference Committee reach an understanding, the same version of the draft legislation will be voted on in the House of Representatives and the Senate respectively. If the draft legislation is passed in both houses, it will be sent to the President for signature and become law.

These five steps are the basic legislative procedures in the United States.