Bills are placed on the calendar of the committee to which they have been assigned. Failure to act on a bill is equivalent to killing it. Comments about the bill's merit are requested by government agencies. The bill can be assigned to a subcommittee by the Chairman. Hearings may then be held.
Subcommittees report their findings to the full committee.
This new bill will have a new number and will be sent to the floor while the old bill is discarded. The chamber must approve, change or reject all committee amendments before conducting a final passage vote. After the bill is reported, the committee staff prepares a written report explaining why they favor the bill and why they wish to see their amendments, if any, adopted. Committee members who oppose a bill sometimes write a dissenting opinion in the report. In the House, most bills go to the Rules committee before reaching the floor.