VOA · U.S. History
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed3:562018-11-30public domain
The U.S. History series (The Making of a Nation) tells American history from the colonial era onward in VOA Special English: slow speed, limited vocabulary, long-form storytelling. Generations of learners have used this exact series to break through intermediate listening.
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01The United States Congress is responsible for making and approving federal laws, rules that everyone in the country must follow.
02But exactly how do those laws get made?
03The process is not easy, and it takes a long time.
04A law begins when someone proposes an idea.
05The idea can come from anyone, but it has to get to a U.S.
06lawmaker who wants it to become legislation.
07In time, the idea is further developed into a written proposal, called a bill.
08Then, a member of Congress, that is, a senator or a member of the House of Representatives, officially proposes the bill.
09In other words, a lawmaker sponsors it.
10Lawmakers usually sponsor bills that are important to them or the people who live in the area they represent.
11After the bill is introduced, it is sent to a small group of lawmakers, called a committee.
12Committees are responsible for a specific public policy or area of government.
13For example, both the Senate and the House have committees that deal with agriculture, education, and international relations.
14Sometimes committee members seek more information about the proposal by holding hearings.
15Sometimes the committee changes the bill.
16Sometimes it decides not to take any action.
17In that case, we say, Lawmakers table the bill, or let it die in committee.
18But now and then, they offer the bill to lawmakers not on the committee.
19Those lawmakers debate the bill further.
20They might change the bill again.
21Finally, the full House or Senate votes on the bill.
22If it does not earn the majority of votes, the bill does not advance.
23But if it does get approved, the bill goes to the other chamber of Congress.
24Lawmakers in the second chamber repeat the process.
25If the second chamber also approves the bill, lawmakers from both the House and the Senate may have to discuss it again to settle any differences.
26Finally, the agreed-upon bill is sent to the President.
27The President has a few choices about what to do.
28If the President signs it, the bill becomes a law.
29If the President does nothing and Congress is officially meeting, the bill becomes a law.
30But if the President does nothing and Congress is not in session, the bill does not pass.
31Or the President can officially reject or veto the bill.
32If that happens, the bill is not stopped.
33Instead, it is returned to both the Senate and the House.
34If two-thirds of the Senators and two-thirds of the House members approve the bill once again, they override the veto.
35That is, even with the President objecting, they turn the bill into a law.
36I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.
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