Congress Classroom · student handout

How a bill starts

Name Period

From 2013 to 2024, legislators introduced 76,867 bills and joint resolutions. For 83% of them, nothing happened after they were introduced and sent to committee.

Words this lesson uses

Sponsor. The one legislator who introduced the measure. Only a legislator can, though the idea can come from anyone.

Cosponsor. A legislator who asks to add their name in support. There is no limit, and cosponsoring is not a vote.

Committee. A standing group of legislators responsible for one set of subjects. Almost every measure is sent to one, and most never leave it.

Chamber. The House of Representatives or the Senate. A measure has to get through both.

Any action. Anything recorded on a measure, from being introduced to a hearing or a vote.

From the hopper to a committee

In the House, the sponsor signs the bill and drops it in the "hopper", a wooden box at the clerk's desk on the chamber floor. The names of any original cosponsors, legislators who sign on from the start, go with it. Every House bill must also say which part of the Constitution gives Congress the power to pass it.
In the Senate, most bills are handed to a clerk at the desk. A Senator can also introduce one in a speech on the floor.
The number comes next, in order: H.R. for House bills, S. for Senate bills. There are exceptions. Under the House's own rules, H.R. 1 to 10 are saved for the Speaker and H.R. 11 to 20 for the Minority Leader, so each side can put its top priorities up front. A sponsor can also ask for a number that means something.
The committee. The Speaker in the House, or the presiding officer in the Senate, refers the bill to committee, almost always on the advice of the Parliamentarian, the chamber's nonpartisan rules expert. A House bill can go to every committee whose subject it touches; a Senate bill goes to the one committee whose subject is most of the bill. Once it is numbered and referred, the bill belongs to the chamber and the sponsor cannot change a word.

There is no limit on how many bills a legislator can introduce.

Where most bills stop

What the record shows	Share of those bills
Referred to committee the same day it was introduced	99%
Sent to one committee / to two or more	79% / 21%
Had cosponsors from the day it was introduced	70%
Never had a single cosponsor	20%
Nothing on the record after introduction and referral	83%

If most bills never move, why introduce them? Write two reasons.

Two bills that started the same way

H.R. 3159, Food Date Labeling Act of 2023 (about "sell by" and "use by" dates on food)

Date	What the record says
May 9, 2023	Introduced in the House, 6 original cosponsors
May 9, 2023	Referred to 2 committees: Agriculture; Energy and Commerce
May 12, 2023	Referred to a subcommittee
Jun 1, 2023	Referred to a subcommittee

It started with 6 original cosponsors from both parties and gained 42 in all. That is the whole record. Its record on congress.gov.

H.R. 1734, TRANQ Research Act of 2023 (research on a drug found mixed into street fentanyl)

Date	What the record says
Mar 23, 2023	Introduced in the House, 18 original cosponsors
Mar 23, 2023	Referred to Science, Space, and Technology
Mar 29, 2023	Committee markup; approved 36 to 0
May 5, 2023	Reported by the committee
May 11, 2023	Passed the House, 425 to 0
Jun 22, 2023	Passed the Senate, with a change
Dec 4, 2023	House agreed to the Senate's change
Dec 19, 2023	Became Public Law 118-23

Its record on congress.gov.

Read your group's bill

Write its number. Is it a House bill or a Senate bill? What does the number tell you, and what does it not tell you?
Who is the sponsor? How many original cosponsors did it have, and how many cosponsors now? Are they from one party or both?
Which committee or committees was it referred to, and on what date? Was that the same day it was introduced?
Is there anything on its record after the referral? If yes, what was the next step? If no, write two reasons a legislator might introduce a bill that never moves.
Search for the committee's own website and find the list of subjects it covers. What else is that committee responsible for? Why would this bill have been sent there?

Exit ticket

Two bills are introduced the same day on the same subject. One is sent to a single committee, the other to two. Why might that matter later?