How a Bill Becomes a Law. - Free Printable

The image you've provided is an educational worksheet titled "How a Bill Becomes a Law", designed to teach the legislative process in the United States. It uses a flowchart format with cartoon illustrations and fill-in-the-blank sections to guide students through each step of how a bill becomes a law.

Let’s walk through the steps and fill in the blanks based on standard U.S. government procedures.

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🔹 Step-by-Step Explanation & Completed Worksheet

#### 1. Propose a Bill
- First, someone has to come up with an idea for a new bill.
- Then, they call their congressional representative to get it introduced.

> ✔ *A bill can be proposed by a member of Congress (either House or Senate).*

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#### 2. Introduced to Congress
- A bill can start in either the House of Representatives or the Senate.
- The bill must start in the house where the member who introduced it belongs.
- The bill is given a number and is entered into Congressional Record.

> ✔ *Each bill is assigned a number (e.g., H.R. 1234 for House bills, S. 567 for Senate bills).*

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#### 3. Committee
- The bill is assigned to the proper committee to be studied.
- The committee reviews the bill and may hold hearings.
- The bill is then sent to a subcommittee for further review.

> ✔ *Committees specialize in areas like education, defense, health, etc.*

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#### 4. Subcommittee
- Then, it can go to a subcommittee to be looked at by experts.
- The subcommittee may amend or reject the bill.

> ✔ *Subcommittees are smaller groups within a larger committee.*

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#### 5. Reporting
- The committee writes a report on the bill that will get presented on the floor.
- The bill gets put on the calendar to wait its turn to be voted on.

> ✔ *The calendar lists when bills will be debated.*

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#### 6. On the Floor...
- The bill is considered on the floor of the chamber.
- More amendments can be added.
- Members debate and vote on the bill.

> ✔ *This is where public debate occurs.*

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#### 7. Time to Vote
- Now, it is ready to be put to vote.
- The members must vote yes or no.

> ✔ *If passed, it moves to the other chamber.*

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#### 8. To the Senate...
- If the bill passes in the House, it moves on to follow the same process in the Senate.

> ✔ *The Senate repeats the process: committee, subcommittee, floor debate, vote.*

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#### 9. To the White House...
- If both houses approved the bill, it goes to the President to make the bill a law.
- Then, it's off to the White House.

> ✔ *The President receives the bill after both chambers pass identical versions.*

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#### 10. Becoming a Law
- The President can sign the bill to make it law.
- Or, if the President does nothing for 10 days (and Congress is in session), the bill becomes law automatically.

> ✔ *Signing the bill makes it official law.*

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#### 11. Vetoed...
- Or, the President can veto the bill.
- The bill will become dead unless Congress overrides the veto.
- This can happen as long as Congress is in session.

> ✔ *A veto sends the bill back to Congress with objections.*

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#### 12. Overridden...
- If the President vetoes the bill, it can be overridden by a two-thirds majority vote of each house.

> ✔ *Only two-thirds of both the House and Senate can override a presidential veto.*

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✔ Final Summary:

A bill becomes a law through these key steps:

1. Proposed by a member of Congress.
2. Introduced in either the House or Senate.
3. Sent to a committee and possibly a subcommittee.
4. Reported out with a recommendation.
5. Debated and voted on on the floor of each chamber.
6. Must pass both the House and Senate in identical form.
7. Sent to the President.
8. President can sign it into law, let it become law without signature, or veto it.
9. If vetoed, Congress can override the veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.

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📌 Key Takeaways:

- Both the House and Senate must approve the same version of the bill.
- The President has the power to sign or veto the bill.
- A veto can be overridden by a supermajority (2/3) in both chambers.
- If the President doesn’t act and Congress is in session, the bill becomes law after 10 days.

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✔ Completed Blanks (from the image):

Here are the answers for the missing words in the worksheet:

| Section | Missing Word(s) |
|--------|------------------|
| Propose a Bill | bill, congressional representative |
| Introduced to Congress | House of Representatives, Senate |
| Committee | committee |
| Subcommittee | subcommittee |
| Reporting | floor, calendar |
| On the floor | floor, amendments |
| Time to vote | yes, no |
| To the Senate | House, Senate |
| To the White House | President, White House |
| Becoming a law | sign |
| Vetoed | veto, dead |
| Overridden | overridden, two-thirds |

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This worksheet is a fun and engaging way to teach the legislative process! Let me know if you'd like this turned into a printable PDF or quiz format.