The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1933-03-11
Our Government
How It Operates
By William Bruckare
PASSING A BILL
BY William, Bruckave

Is an OBVIOUS fact that the odds.
and they are heavy odds, are al
ways against the passage of the av-
erage piece of legislation introduced
In the house or senate. The reason
is that there are actually thousands
| OF them. In the ordinary session of
congress there will be from 5000 to
1900 bills offered In the senate, and
three or four times that number
presented in the house. The num-
Der of bills that eventually become
law is quite small.
So the fact that bill receives ap-
proval Of the committee to which 1t
was referred and that it has been
given q place on the calendar of
business, assures nothing at all in
solar as the average legislative pro-
| posal is concerned. There always
are certain types of bills that will
receive attention on the floor of the
house and senate, but they are neg
ligible in number.
To be sure, then, that the bill we
will discuss can have final action
and will not find its way into a
pigeonhole of a committee room or
be allowed to die on the calendar
of business with no record of hay
ing lived at all, let us take the case
of the bill creating the Reconstruc-
ton Finance corporation, passed by
the last congress. Legislation of
that type was recommended by the
President. No sooner had congress
convened than bills of identical lam
gnage were introduced in both the
house and the senate. This was done
to enable rapid consideration, since
| it was recognized that the legisla-
ton was urgently necessary.
1t received consideration In the
house after this manner: following
1.-THE committee report, two whole
| days were given over to general
discussion of the legislation. Rep
resentatives were allowed consider
able time each in which to talk
about it--and other things that
came into their minds. AT the end
of that general debate" tile read
ing of the bill began.
Although the visitor in the gallery
could hardly make out what was
| going on, the reading clerk was
reading every line of the bill that
was to set up gigantic, federal
owned corporation which could
make loans to help out banks, rail
roads, insurance companies, etc,
| who We're sound but whose assets
were tied up as result of the de-
preston. Following that reading
the bill was "open to amendment"
and II was then that the house MEM
| Dership individually began TO exert
the power that reposes in them
Eventually, amendments were nc
cepted or rejected until a majority
| of the members were satisfied with
the bill, or at least enough of them
were satisfied with it to constitute
controlling group. A roll call was
had and the bill was passed
| Attendants of the house scurricd
around and made true copy" OF
the bill, and one of them carried it
over to the north end of the Capitol
J where the senate sits. This had
to be done while the senate was in
session.
Through the same routine of com
mittee procedure in the senate, II
went. 1t was reported with Il
recommendation that IL he pissed
but with amendments" for the sen.
ate committee had other ideas. The
senate voted to give the bill it's i'm
mediate attention, and debate be
gan, u general talkfest. More amend
ments were proposed and some of
them were accepted by the senate,
and In the end the bin az ii came
from the house was hard 50 recoa
nize in the language which the seIl
ate passed as the shape In which IL
wanted the law to lie.
4 senate messenger then had the
duty of advising the house that thu
DEMONSTRATION bilL" as il had
come to be knowA. had been passed
by the senate but that Il had been
amended. or course, the coitciIr
| renee of the house WAS requested
but everybody knew that the house
would not concur just that way. IN.
stead. the house requested "A con.
ference" with the senate. and the
senate agreed Each house then
named five of its members they M
ways are from the committee that
handled the biil-and in due tiut
these ten individuals tried tn re..eh
an accord nn The terms OF the tegis
lation in "A meeting among them
selves.
This is where the greatest yanH
Of horse TRADING In tire world faas tfx
beginning. Each house want,.a the
bili the way II was PASSED. hat each
house obviously could not have II
that way. So these ten Cssufertps
began swapping. The senate sraa,p
says, for examphes we will give IN
this amendment N the h,aise viii
give Hp thai proposition. nr,I ts,s,y
/ work along. always behind clu<s,gl
doors for that y the oaiy way rsss
sissle FOR them To reach an agree
/ n1ent.
| Ordinarily. these graaps az cwn
ferees settle things satisfactory Co
the house ard seFsste whIcaa sas rarE
agree 10 the conference renart and