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Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. [1] Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to as "legislation" while it remains under consideration to distinguish it from other business ...
United States Capitol building, where the legislature of the United States, the United States Congress, meets, located in Washington, DC. A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein.
The committee system is a way to provide for specialization, or a division of the legislative labor. Sometimes called "little legislatures," committees usually have the final say on pieces of legislation. Committees only very rarely are deprived control of a bill, although this kind of action is provided for in the rules of each chamber.
The federal government is divided into three branches, as per the specific terms articulated in the U.S. Constitution: The executive branch is headed by the president and is independent of the legislature. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of Congress: the Senate and the House of Representatives.
This is a chronological, but still incomplete, list of United States federal legislation. Congress has enacted approximately 200–600 statutes during each of its 118 biennial terms so more than 30,000 statutes have been enacted since 1789.
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) [a] is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, five major self-governing territories, several island possessions, and the federal district (national capital) of Washington ...
In nations that have civil law systems (including France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and Portugal), a proposed law is known as a "law project" (Fr. projet de loi) if introduced by the government, or a "law proposition" (Fr. proposition de loi) if a private member's bill.
Legislation can originate from either the Lords or the Commons. It is voted on in several distinct stages, called readings, in each house. First reading is merely a formality. Second reading is where the bill as a whole is considered. Third reading is detailed consideration of clauses of the bill.