How Do You Propose An Amendment To A Bill In Congress?
The Constitution of the United States sets forth the rules on how federal law is made. Bills are proposals for laws that are introduced by either a federal House representative or a senator. For a bill to become a law it must be passed by both the House and the Senate by a majority vote, and then signed by the president. If the president vetoes the bill, Congress can override the veto by a two-thirds majority vote. An ordinary citizen may become a part of this process. To do so, he must work to influence congressional members who have the power to change and vote on proposed legislation. Locate the bill number for the proposed legislation that you want to amend. Information about pending legislation can be found in the THOMAS database at the Library of Congress website. Decide what you want your amendment to say. Think through arguments that are both in favor of and in opposition to your proposal. You should be able to state in specific, concise points what your proposal is and why it
