There Ought To Be A Law

Have you ever wondered how a law is made? It starts with an idea (maybe yours!). Here’s a classroom activity that shows how Congress makes laws.

What you need

• A big group of kids—at least 20
• Paper
• Pens or pencils
• Copier

Appoint one person to be president, one person to be a clerk, and divide the rest into two groups—a Senate and a House of Representatives. Choose a few members of each of these groups to serve on special committees. Committees can be like those in the real Congress, such as the Committees of Agriculture, Science, Education or Energy. Or you can make up topics of your own

One person proposes his or her idea. (This is called “sponsoring the bill,” and can be done by representatives or senators.) He or she writes up the bill and gives it to the clerk. The clerk assigns a number to the bill, and makes copies.

Now the House committee gets to work. If the bill is about education, the members of the education committee get copies of the bill to look over. They decide if the House will vote on the bill or if the bill will be “tabled” (set aside). They may want to get more information before they decide. The committee interviews experts, looks up information, and argues about the bill. If they decide to recommend it for a vote, the bill is read before the House of Representatives. The members debate and then vote on it. (Have the clerk collect votes and keep tally.)

If the House passess the bill, it goes on to the Senate. The appropriate Senate committee looks at it carefully and does some research and interviewing too. If they like the bill, it is read before the Senate, they debate it, and a vote is taken.

If passed by both House and Senate, the bill is sent to the president for signature. The president gets out his or her special pen and holds it over the document. The president might sign the bill and make it a law or say “I don’t think so,” and veto (cancel) the bill.

Even if the president vetoes the bill, it can still become law. If Congress votes again and two-thirds of them still say “aye” (meaning “yes”),  the bill can pass without the president’s approval.