1) Who can introduce legislation into the Congress?
Answer: only members of Congress can introduce legislation.
2) Who sets the agenda for the House of Representatives?
Answer: The Speaker, in consultation with party and committee leaders, the president, and others, largely determines whether, when, how, and in what order bills come up.
3) There are four types of bills, what are their differences? What is an omnibus bill?
Answer:
Bill-Most legislative proposals before Congress are in a bill form. Public bills deal with general questions and become public laws if approved by Congress and signed by the president. Private bills deal with individual matters they become private laws if approved and signed by the President.
Resolution- a simple resolution deals with matters entirely within the prerogatives of one house. It requires neither passage by the other chamber nor approval by the president and does not have the force of law.
Concurrent Resolution- must be passed by both houses but does not require the president’s signature and does not have the force of law.
Joint Resolution- requires the approval of both houses and the president’s signature, just as a bill does, and has the force of the law.
Omnibus Bill- A bill consisting of a number of related but separate parts which seek to amend and/or repeal one or several existing Acts and/or to enact one or several new Acts.
4) What are each of the different calendars used in the House? What type of bills go onto each?
Answer: The House of Representatives has five calendars of business: the Union Calendar, the House Calendar, the Private Calendar, the Corrections Calendar, and the Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees. The calendars are compiled in one publication printed each day the House is in session. This publication also contains a history of Senate-passed bills, House bills reported out of committee, bills on which the House has acted, as well as other useful information.
Union Calendar: is a large majority of public bills and resolutions reported to the House.
House Calendar: The public bills and resolutions that are not placed on the Union Calendar are referred to the House Calendar.
Private Calendar: All private bills reported to the House are placed on the Private Calendar. The Private Calendar is called on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.
Corrections Calendar: If a measure pending on either the House or Union Calendar is of a noncontroversial nature, it may be placed on the Corrections Calendar. The Corrections Calendar was created to address specific problems with federal rules, regulations, or court decisions that bipartisan and narrowly targeted bills could expeditiously correct.
Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees: When a majority of the Members of the House sign a motion to discharge a committee from consideration of a public bill or resolution, that motion is referred to the Calendar of Motions to Discharge Committees.
5) What are the various procedures the house uses to expedite minor/ uncontroversial bills?
Answer: The House tends to operate on a Monday-to -Thursday schedule, with Mondays reserved primarily for non-controversial legislation considered under shortcut procedures such as suspension of the rules or unanimous consent. Minor/ uncontroversial bills may also be considered under suspension of the rules, which means it does not have to be reported from committee before the full House takes it up. There are also occasions where the minority party will contend that noncontroversial bills that could easily pass by suspension are instead brought up with an open rule- which permits more than forty minutes of debate and allows amendments – granted by the Rules Committee.
6) What happens under Suspension of Rules? Why is this procedure used in the House?
Answer: Suspension of the Rules in the United States Congress is the specific set of procedures within the United States Congress
