CHAPTER IX.
HOW LAWS ARE MADE BY CONGRESS.
Methods of Procedure Developed by Custom.—Very little can be learned directly from the Constitution concerning the actual methods employed in the enactment of laws by Congress. In both houses the ways in which business is conducted have been developed by custom; and they have changed from time to time according to circumstances. These methods of procedure are different from those in use when the government was new. The principal reason for this is found in the growth of the amount of business that Congress must consider; this, in turn, has been caused by the growth of population and wealth, and by the expansion of business relations throughout this country and with other nations.
I. The Committee System.—An understanding of this system is necessary in order that we may follow the steps taken in the making of laws. Two facts made the committee system necessary in the houses of Congress. (1) The number of members, especially in the House of Representatives, is so large that business cannot be transacted quickly by the entire body. (2) The number of bills introduced is so very great that it is impossible for either house to consider all of them; hence it is necessary that committees shall examine the bills and decide which are worthy of consideration.
In the long session of the 61st Congress more than 33,000 bills were introduced into the House. The number of committees in the House was 61, the membership varying from 5 to 19. The most important House committees are those on Ways and Means (which has charge of all bills for raising revenue), Appropriations, Banking and Currency, Foreign Affairs, and Military Affairs. In the Senate of the 61st Congress there were 72 standing committees. The number of members on a committee was in most cases 9 or 11. A few of the Senate committees are those on Finance (corresponding to the Committee on Ways and Means in the House), Agriculture, Commerce, and Foreign Relations.
Both in the House and in the Senate every member is on some committee, and some members have places on several committees. In both houses the committees are elected. The chairman and a majority of the members of each committee are from the members of the party that has a majority in the house.
Steps in the Progress of a Bill.—(1) The first step in the progress of a bill is its introduction. This is done in the House by merely placing the bill in a basket on the clerk's desk. In the Senate the member introducing a bill rises and asks leave to introduce it.
(2) The bill is next referred to a committee.
(3) If the committee decides that the bill should go further they report it back to the house.
The house will in a great majority of cases pass or reject it according to the committee's recommendation. Few bills are debated in either house, and in the most of these cases the discussion has no influence upon the fate of the bill—it is meant merely to be heard or to be printed. Hence, it is in that intermediate stage between the reference of the bill to a committee and the report on it that the real work of legislation is accomplished.
The Power of Committees over Bills.—A committee may exercise the utmost freedom with respect to the bills referred to it. The greater number of bills receive no consideration whatever from the committees; these may never be reported if the committees see fit to ignore them. Other bills are amended by the committees, or new bills are substituted for them. Such is the power intrusted to Congressional committees. However, if a majority of the house wishes, it may take up for discussion a bill which one of its committees has decided not to report back.
Many of the important committees have separate rooms where their meetings are held. Here the members may confer in secret, or they may hold public hearings; i.e., persons are invited to give testimony or to make arguments. Frequently the majority members of a committee hold separate meetings, determine their policy, and then adhere to it regardless of the wishes of the minority members. The latter may present a separate report called the minority report of the committee.
Consideration of Bills.—(4) In the next step, the bill is brought before the house for consideration. How is it determined which bills shall be thus favored? In some measure this depends upon the importance and the merits of the bill; but it depends more upon the skill and influence of the member (generally the chairman of the committee reporting the bill) who is particularly interested in seeing it enacted into law. In the House of Representatives this important matter is most often decided by the Committee on Rules, which is composed of ten members, six being of the party that has a majority in the House. In most cases this committee decides which bills shall be considered, and how much time shall be given to the discussion of each one. So it is necessary for the chairman of a committee to make a previous arrangement with the speaker to be recognized before he can bring up his bill. But on Wednesday of each week the chairmen of committees may call up their bills in the order in which they secure recognition. And the Committee on Rules does not control the bills which the House takes out of the hands of committees.
II. The Power of the Speaker.—The speaker is the executive officer who sees that the decisions of the Committee on Rules are carried out. In most important matters it is necessary for a member to make an arrangement with the speaker in order to secure recognition when he wishes to address the House.
In exercising the power of recognition, the speaker will, of course, give both the sides a fair opportunity to debate upon important measures. He will not permit members to make motions or lengthy speeches merely for the sake of delaying some action to which they are opposed. Such actions are called obstructive tactics, or filibustering.
The Lobby, Log-rolling, and Patronage.—Not all the bills that come before Congress are passed or rejected because they are wise or unwise. The influences that determine the course of legislation at Washington are very numerous and complicated. Some of these influences are to a greater or less extent legitimate, and others are totally bad. The lobby, in its broadest sense, is composed of all those persons who go to Washington in order to exert pressure upon Congressmen in favor of or against certain measures. Some of the best laws and some of the worst are enacted through the influence of the lobbyist. Log-rolling is an important influence in determining legislation; a member votes for the pet measure of his fellow Congressman on condition that the latter will vote for the bill in which he is particularly interested. Political patronage is a great factor in determining votes in Congress; the power of members to recommend appointments, and the influences exerted in their favor by the appointees, often determine the question of their continuance in office. Consequently, there is a great temptation to use patronage in exchange for votes. The use of money directly in bribery is difficult of detection, but other favors and privileges of money value are no less effective in the purchase of the votes of those members who are so unscrupulous as to be open to such influences.
Debate in Congress.—It is now apparent that many other things besides the arguments used in debate determine which bills shall pass and which shall fail. In the House the time for debate is strictly limited, on account of the amount of business. The chairman of the committee reporting a bill generally has one hour in which to urge the passage of his measure; for a portion of the time he may yield the floor to other members, both friends and opponents of the bill. Of course, much more than one hour is given to debate on important bills. Many of the speeches which are printed in the Congressional Record have not been delivered; but they are intended for circulation among the constituents of representatives, and for use as campaign documents. Many of the speeches that are actually delivered receive scant attention; the lack of interest in them is made evident by the noise and confusion that very often prevail during sessions of the House.
Senate Procedure.—In the Senate debate is not limited. Senators are expected to regard each other's rights with respect to the amount of time and attention they may demand; yet a bill may be "talked to death" in the Senate. As a result, the Senate is less business-like in its procedure than the House, and some means of checking unlimited discussion have often been proposed for it.
Conference Committees.—A bill which has passed one house must be sent to the other. Here it is introduced and goes through the stages above described. If one house amends a bill which has already passed the other, it must be returned for re-passage to the house where it originated. This is a frequent cause of conflict between the two houses, and each tries to insist on its rights.
When such a dispute cannot be easily adjusted, a conference committee must be appointed. This is composed of members from each house, and they endeavor to arrange a compromise which will be acceptable to both houses. Generally their decision is ratified without question, but sometimes even this method of settlement fails.
Methods of Voting.—There are three methods of voting in Congress. (1) Members respond "aye" or "no" by acclamation. (2) If a division is called for, a rising vote is taken and the members are counted. In the House the counting is done by two tellers, who stand near the speaker's desk, while the members pass between them in single file, first those voting in the affirmative, and afterward those opposing the motion. (3) When the "yeas and nays" are called for, or whenever the rules of either house require them, the roll is called and each member votes as he responds to his name. This vote is entered on the Journal.
After the roll-call is completed, the presiding officer announces the pairs. Members who belong to different political parties may agree that they shall be recorded on opposite sides of party questions, whether they are present or not. Or pairs may be arranged for particular votes only. This device enables a member to be absent from his seat without feeling that his vote is needed.
The President's Power in Law-Making.—A bill which has received a majority vote in both houses is next sent to the President.
Article 1, Section 7, Clause 2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
There are then three ways in which a bill may become a law. (1) It may pass by majority vote in both houses and be signed by the President. (2) It may, after being vetoed by the President, be passed by two-thirds vote in both houses. (3) It will become a law if the President neither signs nor vetoes it within ten days, unless these are at the end of the session.
The framers of the Constitution intended that the veto power should be a check, though not an absolute one, upon hasty or unwise legislation. The President may cause a bill to fail by neither signing nor vetoing it during the last ten days of a session. The term pocket veto has been applied to this method of defeating bills.
SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS AND REFERENCES.
1. Copies of the Congressional Record and the Congressional Directory furnish interesting illustrations of the topics treated in this chapter.
2. What difference is there in the granting of recognition in the Senate and House? Harrison, This Country of Ours, 45-48.
3. How are obstructive tactics carried on? Alton, Among the Law-makers, Chapter 20.
4. Reinsch, Young Citizen's Reader, 198-213. Marriott, Uncle Sam's Business, 8-16.