Must legislation originate from a committee in Congress or can it be brought up by any member on the floor?

Question

It seems to always originate from the committee or subcommittees that deal with that particular issue, which I find a little wrong because they are all controlled by the same political party and it comes down to whether the chairman of that committe wants to hold hearings on it. I don't think one person should have that much power and what if an issue you care about relates to a committe that is chaired by somebody that doesn't represent your district...what are you suppose to do, call your congressman and have them give a message to the relevent member or what....should the people tolerate this unjust procedure

Answer 1

The bill must be sponsored by a Congressman and it can be brought from the floor or from a committee.

Answer 2

Although most legislation does come to the floor via the committee process, it is also permitted for a bill to be "discharged by petition". This involves a majority of the members of the House (218) signing a petition to have the bill in question removed from  the desk of that committee chairman and brought to the floor for a debate and a vote.

Answer 3

The committee system, which seems unjust to you, is a necessary evil, without which nothing in the Congress would ever get done. Try to imagine that every Representative and Senator has legislation that they want to be passed. It is quite impossible for any one legislator to read, evaluate, and vote on everything that is introduced. There is the impossibility of time involved there. Thus the various committees receive proposed bills and decide whether they are worth passing on for general debate and voting.

Bear in mind that there is a lot of loony legislation proposed, and the committees serve as a filter. They can tweak a bill so that it is more workable. They can hold hearings to decide if further consideration is needed. They can also just toss a bill into the trash and pretend that it never existed. Sometimes a committee will send on a bill with a "Do Pass" recomendation. Sometimes, they will send a bill out without comment. And sometimes, they will send on a bill that they do not like, but they have received enough heat over it to let the whole body make the decision.

This is where the voter comes into play. The voter who contacts his Representative or Senator and voices an opinion on legislation in a committee, helps to put on the pressure to move it along, or to stop it.

That's the simple explanation.

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Answer 4

A "bill" is introduced when a member of Congress decides to create a new law. Any member of Congress can introduce a bill. Only members of the House may introduce bills that deal with taxes or spending. Before a bill can become a law, both houses of Congress must pass identical versions of the bill.

Once a bill is introduced in either house, it goes through almost the same process. Each bill is first assigned to a committee for review. The bill is tabled, or set aside, if the committee decides the bill is not worthy. The bill is sent to the entire house for debate if the committee decides the bill is worthy of further action.

If the bill passes, it is sent to the other house. A joint committee works out any differences the two houses of Congress have concerning a bill. When both houses agree on a bill, the Speaker of the House and the vice president sign it. The bill must be signed before being sent to the president.

In each two-year session, thousands of bills come before Congress. Almost twelve thousand bills were introduced in Congress in one recent session. Less than five hundred were enacted into law.