Name: ______________________________

Block: ___________

How a Bill Becomes a Law WebQuest Workbook

The purpose of this webquest is to discover the different steps a bill must
pass through in order to become a law.
Definitions: (Textbook p. 334 335)
1. A bill is
____________________________________________________________________
2. A resolution deals with
____________________________________________________
3. A joint resolution is like a bill because
______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. A concurrent resolution deals with
_________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. A rider is _________________________________________________________________
Step #1: Introducing a Bill
6. Who can come up with an idea for a law?
A. Representatives
B. Congressmen
C. The President
D. Anyone
7. Who can introduce a bill to Congress?
A. Anyone
B. Only members of Congress
C. The President
D. The Speaker of the House
Step #2: Referral to Committee
8. How many standing committees does the House have? __________
9. How many standing committees does the Senate have? __________
10. How many joint committees are there? __________

Please click on one committee that is interesting to you.

11. Which committee did you choose? ______________________________
12. Next, scroll down to find a bill under Committee Activity. Select a bill
that is interesting to you and write a brief summary describing what the bill
is about and which committee it comes from. Feel free to also explore the
committee website listed in order to create your summary.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Step #3: Hearings

13. What happens in committee hearings?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
14. Do you think that having celebrities testify in committee hearings is
effective? Why?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Step #4: Markups
15. During markups bills get:
A. Debated
B. Amended
C. Occasionally re-written
D. All of the above.

16. Markups determine the exact wording and specifics of a bill.

A. True
B. False
Step #5 Floor Consideration
17. During floor consideration a bill gets:
A. Debated, scheduled, referred, voted
B. Scheduled, debated, voted, referred
C. Voted, scheduled, debated, referred
D. Referred, voted, debated, scheduled
18. Floor consideration is where the whole House or Senate votes on the bill.
A. True
B. False
Step #6 Conference Committees
19. Conference Committees are composed of members from both the house
and the Senate
A. True
B. False
20. Conference Committees are created to negotiate a compromise on
similar bills from both the House and the Senate, so there is just one bill.
A. True
B. False
21. The Constitution states that both the House and the Senate must pass
identical legislation in order for the bill to become law.
A. True
B. False
22. In order for a bill to pass the conference committee they need how many
votes from the conference committee? __________
23. After the bill passes the conference committee it must go back to both
houses for a final vote.
A. True
B. False
Step #7 Presidential Action
24. How many days does the President have to sign a bill? __________
25. What can the President do with the bill?
A. Sign it into law
B. Veto the bill
C. Ignore the bill ( & it becomes law anyway)
D. All of the above

26. If the president vetoes the bill Congress can override the veto with what
percentage vote in each house? __________

Conclusion:
In the space provided, draw a flow chart depicting the process a bill must go
through in order to become a law.