Two kinds of measures

Reading 1. Read the prefix first.

Every measure in Congress has a prefix and a number. Four prefixes belong to measures that can become law. Four belong to measures that never can and were never meant to. Here are all eight, with how many of each were introduced since the 113th Congress. Fill in the middle column: Can or Cannot.

1. Add up the four "Cannot" rows. Out of every 100 measures introduced, about how many can never become law?

2. A website says "only 1% of everything introduced in Congress becomes law" and counted all eight types. Is that fair? What should it have left out of the bottom of the fraction?

Reading 2. If it cannot become law, what is it for?

The four kinds. H.R. and S. are bills. H.J.Res. and S.J.Res. are joint resolutions: they pass both chambers, go to the President, and have the force of law. They are also the only way Congress proposes a constitutional amendment, which goes to the states instead. H.Con.Res. and S.Con.Res. are concurrent resolutions: both chambers, never the President. H.Res. and S.Res. are simple resolutions: one chamber speaking for itself.

A simple resolution (H.Res., S.Res.) sets a chamber's own rules, instructs its committees, decides how a bill will be debated on the floor, or states the chamber's opinion. In the House, nearly every major bill reaches the floor under an H.Res. that fixes the time and which amendments are allowed.

A concurrent resolution (H.Con.Res., S.Con.Res.) is for things that belong to Congress alone: the yearly budget framework, when to adjourn, fixing a bill's text after both chambers passed it, and positions both chambers share.

3. Some of the most important votes a member takes are on measures that can never be law. Give one example from above and say why it matters.

4. "The House passed it, so it is law." For which prefixes is that sentence never true, and for which is it only part of the story?

Assignment. Eight prefixes, eight measures.

On congress.gov, in the current Congress, find one live measure of each type. Use the search filters to narrow to one type at a time. For each, write the number, the title in five words or fewer, and its latest action.

5. Does either of your joint resolutions propose a constitutional amendment? If one did and passed both chambers, where would it go next?

6. Two sentences on the measure that surprised you most, and why.