Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 10, 1 October 2010 — How laws are made in the United States Gongress [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

How laws are made in the United States Gongress

By Martha Ross The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act (NHGRA), also known as the Akaka bill after its lead sponsor U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, was re-introduced by Senator Akaka and co-sponsor U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye in the Senate, and by then U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie and co-sponsor U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono in the House of Representatives, in 2009. NHGRA was referred to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee for review. Follow-

ing hearings and testimony, the NHGRA was reported out of the respective committees. In February 2010, a majority of House members voted to pass the NHGRA as amended. As of press time, NHGRA is in the Senate pending placement on the floor for a vote. When NHGRA is called to the Senate lloor, Senator Akaka has said he will submit an amendment to H.R. 2314 in the form of a substitute for Senate consideration. This amendment is the specific text of the bill with changes as agreed upon by Senator Akaka, Senator Inouye, Governor Lingle and

Attorney General Bennett in August 2010. Here, we describe the next steps needed for a bill to heeome law. SCHEDULING FL00R ACTI0N IN SENATE The Senate Majority Leader requests unanimous consent to lay a bill before the Senate. When one or more Senators places a hold on a bill, a cloture mohon petition (a request to stop intended endless debate after a set time to move the bill forward for a Senate vote) must be submitted and presented to the Senate for debate and vote. The debate arguments at this

point are about procedure, whether or not the bill should be considered by the full Senate. On occasion, a second cloture motion petition must be submitted to end the debate on cloture. If cloture receives at least 60 yes votes, cloture is invoked and there would be up to 30 hours of debate on the bill. At this point the bill is ready to move to the lloor for Senate eonsideration. DEBATE IN THE 8ENAĪE When the bill moves to the Senate floor, there are rules or procedures SEE LAWS ON PAGE 9

100 Senators Eaeh U.S. state is represented by two senators, regardless of population. This ensures equal representation of eaeh state in the Senate. Senators serve staggered six-year terms.

CALENDAR Asof press time, the House adjourned Sept. 29, and the next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 15. The Senate is in recess until Nov. 1 5 and is expected to be in session through Nov. 19, on Nov. 29 and remain until business is completed. For more information on the process, go to www.senate.gov or http://thomas.loc.gov. For more information on NHGRA, go to www.oha.org.

435 Representatives Eaeh state receives representation in the House in proportion to its population but is entitled to at least one Representative. Eaeh representative serves for a two-year term. The House was granted its own

exclusive powers: the power to initiate revenue bills, impeaeh officials, and elect the president in electoral college deadlocks.

Veto 4 The President ean Veto (ūeeline) 3 the Bill. Biii ean still pass but must be revoted by House and Senate and receive 2/3 vote to pass

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LAW8 Continued from page 8 that determine the conditions, such as number of amendments and amount of time for debate. V0TING After debate and approval or failure of any amendments, the bill is voted on by the Senators. In order for the bill to pass, a simple majority, 5 1 Senators, must vote in favor of passage. REFERRALTO H0U8E If only minor changes are made to the House bill in the Senate, it is eommon for the bill to go back to the House for concurrence. However, if the bill is changed significantly, a conference committee is formed with members from House and Senate to reconcile differences, and, if achieved,

both Senate and House must approve the conference report describing the recommendations for change. FINAL ACTI0N After both the Senate and the House approve the bill in identical form, it is sent to U.S. President Barack Ohama, who has said he will sign it. If the President approves and signs the measure within 10 days, the bill becomes law. The 10-day period begins on midnight of the day the President receives the measure, and Sundays are not counted. If the President does not act on a bill, by approving or vetoing it within 10 days, the bill becomes law if Congress is in session. If Congress is not in session, the bill does not heeome law. If the President objects to a measure, he may veto it by retuming it to the chamber (Senate or House) of origin together with a statement of his obiections. within 10

days. Unless both th( Senate and House vote by a two-thirds majority to override the veto, the bill does not heeome j a law. ■

Maiiha Ross is OHA 's Speciaī Assistant to the , CEO.

DEFINITIQNS The U.S. Senate glossary defines "hold" and "cloture" as follows: Hold -an informal practice by whieh a Senator informs his or herfloor leaderthat he or she does not wish a particular bill orother measureto reachthefloorforconsideration. The Majority Leader need not follow the Senator's wishes, but is on notice that the opposing Senator may filibuster any motion to proceed to consider the measure. Cloture - the only procedure by whieh the Senate ean vote to plaee a time limit on consider-

ationof a billorothermatter, and thereby overcome a filibuster. Underthecloture rule (Rule XXII), the Senate maylimit consideration

of a pending matterto 30 additional hours, but only by vote of three-fifths of the full Senate, normally 60 votes.

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