Legislative Process 1

Online petitions are one source of legislative ideas, though not always good ones.

Legislative Research

• Thomas
• GovTrack
• ProQuest Congressional 
• CQ Electronic Library
• Other sources
• US Code
• Citing US Code

Bill Drafting

• Types of measures
• Drafting manual
• An example of legislative language: gun show bill
• Senate Legislative Counsel
• House Legislative Counsel

The Name Game



Rules

• House Rules
• Senate Rules

Do They Read The Bills? No.

John Conyers and the PATRIOT Act:

The fiscal cliff -- search for "algae"

The committee system