To view PDF files, click on yellow button to download Acrobat Reader. The preeminent role of the legislative branch is to make the law. Congress was created as a deliberative institution and has an obligation to gather information from the public when considering new policy.
Information fuels the legislative process.
One method of gathering information is to hold committee meets to hear expert witness testimony. Hearings are so important that Congress has the power to subpoena witnesses to testify on a panel to provide the legislators with the information they seek. Legislative ideas originate in several ways. Only a Representative or Senator, however, may actually introduce a bill in Congress, which is done on the House or Senate floor. It is common practice, however, for other legislators in that chamber to co-sponsor a bill.