How to Make a Law

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How a Bill Becomes a law How we’ll make our own laws 8 Senators (1 President of the Senate) 21 members of the House (1 Speaker of the House) I’m the President (naturally) Each group will be broken into committees (4 members House/ 2 members Senate)- education, homeland security, healthcare, government reform, natural resources In your committee you will propose at least 3 laws to be voted on during tomorrow’s joint session of Congress

Joint Session of Congress First you will propose your bill to your own house of Congress After the reading a vote will be taken, a simple majority is needed to pass If passed, it will go to the other house’s committee- they will either decide to keep it and pass it on to a vote or make an amendment If it is amended, it will go back to the other house and voted on again If a bill is voted on by both houses it will come to me where I can sign/ veto it If vetoed it will go back to Congress and needs a 2/3rds majority to override my veto or the bill dies

Discussion Questions Based on your experience over the two classes we created bills and attempted to ratify them answer the following questions with your group: What was the most challenging aspect of making a law? Think about everything from drafting the bill to getting votes for it. What was an unexpected issue you experienced during the process?

Homework The last leg of our journey on Congress is for you to contact them. Choose one, two or all three of our representatives to email and let them know how you feel about a particular issue that is important to you. Make it authentic (don’t tell them you are doing it as an assignment) and tell them what you think they should do. Remember these people represent you!