How Congress Makes Laws

Analyse the chart and commentary to it. Then comment on it.

1. A Senator or Representative writes a bill (1)

2. The bill goes to a committee of the Senate or House

3. The full Senate or House debates the bill and can amend it.

4. The bill goes to a committee of the other house

5. The second house debates the bill (5)

6. The bill goes to the President (6)

7. Congress overrides the veto (passes the bill)

8. The bill becomes law

The committee can call public hearing (2)

It can table (postpone) the bill (3)

It can send the bill back to the full House without a recommendation (4)

It can amend (change) the bill

The Senate or House defeats the bill

The Senate or House passes the bill

The second house defeats the bill

The second house passes the bill

The President signs the bill, and it

becomes law

The President vetoes (rejects) the bill

The bill does not become law

Commentary

1. A bill concerning taxes or the budget must begin in the House of Representatives

2. There are some standing committees in the houses of Congress

3. If a committee tables a bill, Senators or Representatives can force it out of a committee with a majority vote.

4. This step often "kills" the bill.

5. If the second house of Congress amends the bill, the first house must agree to the changes.

6. If the President does nothing and Congress adjourns within ten days, the bill does not become law.

Vocabulary

adjourn v 1 отсрочивать; 2 откладывать

adjournment n отсрочка

amend the bill вносить поправки (изменения, дополнения) в законопроект

arm n власть

Committee on House Administration комитет палаты по управлению делами

confer v совещаться, вести переговоры

defeat v отвергать, отклонять, проваливать (законопроект)

die v прекращать существование

force out v вытеснять

hearing n слушание, устное разбирательство

initiate legislation осуществлять законодательную инициативу

override a veto отвергнуть вето

pass a bill принимать / утверждать законопроект

pocket veto «карманное вето» (неподписание президентом США законопроекта до роспуска конгресса)

refer v 1 направлять; 2 отсылать; 3 передавать (дело) в другую инстанцию

Senate Committee on Rules and Administration сенатский комитет по регламенту и управлению делами

sequence n 1 последовательность; 2 порядок следования

signature n подпись

table v 1 откладывать или оттягивать обсуждение; 2 класть под сукно, откладывать в долгий ящик

veto v налагать запрет /вето (на законопроект)

veto n вето, запрет, запрещение

withhold v 1 приостанавливать; 2 отказывать (в чем-либо)

Reading tasks

A Answer these questions.

1 Who can initiate new legislation in the USA?

2 Where is the proposed bill first introduced?

3 Where are hearings on a particular bill held?

4 What can committee recommendations include?

5 When is the bill considered by the House of Representatives as a whole?

6 Is the bill viewed in the Senate?

7 What can the result of the debate be?

8 Under what circumstances does the bill become law? Is there only one way to it?

9 Who has the right of veto?

B Decide which of statements a), b) or c) in the exercise below corresponds exactly to the meaning of the text and best completes each statement.

1 Tax or budget bill may be proposed by

a) the President

b) the representatives

c) the senators.

2 After being introduced in the House, the bill undergoes hearings

a) in the Senate

b) in the White House

c) in one of the standing committees.

3 The bill dies if

a) the committee chooses not to consider the bill

b) the committee suggests changes in the bill

c) the committee proposes an entirely new bill.

4 The bill goes to the Senate for committee hearings and general debate if

a) it is passed in the House committees

b) it is given recommendations for changes

c) it is passed in the House of Representatives as a whole.

5 Once passed by the Senate as a whole and viewed by two more standing committees the bill is then

a) signed by the congressmen

b) signed by the heads of both chambers of the Congress

c) signed by the President.

6 The bill becomes law if the President

a) approves the bill and signs it

b) uses the “pocket veto” by withholding his signature within ten days of congressional adjournment

c) vetoes the bill.

Text B

The Political System of the USA

(summary)

The Political System

The United States is an indirect democracy – that is, the people rule through representa­tives they elect. Over time, the vote has been given to more and more people. In the be­ginning, only white men with property could vote. Today any citizen who is at least 18 years old can vote.

The Constitution

The United States Constitution, written in 1787, established the country's political sys­tem and is the basis for its laws. In 200 years, the United States has experienced enormous growth and change. Yet the Constitution works as well today as when it was written. One rea­son is that the Constitution can be amended, or changed. (For example, the Fifteenth Amendment gave black Americans the right to vote and the Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote.) Another reason is that the Constitution is flexible: its basic prin­ciples can be applied and interpreted differ­ently at different times.