Guest Blogger: Tram Nguyen

“Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made”
– Otto Von Bismark

This was the quote of the day in government. It’s an analogy, claiming that the process of passing a law is as messy as the process of making sausage. Law making may easily start with an idea proposed as a bill, but turning at bill into a law is a long and complex process.
A bill is like a painting and a song. It must be seen by many pair of eyes, and heard by many sets of ears to be appreciated and turned into a law. If the bill does not satisfy the majority, it may be revised and try once more to become a law.
The first step is the easiest, proposing a bill. Both the House of Representatives and senate are able to create bills. Thousands of bills are proposed and need to be organized to be sent to its specific committees in the house or senate. Committees are groups of members of congress that look at specific bills depending on its topic. These committees examine the bill and go through many hearings to decide whether it should be passed. With in these committees are subcommittees, which focus more on a specific part of the committee. For example, one committee might be Finances and Military, so a subcommittee might be Nuclear weapons, focusing on certain weapons. These committees tear every bit of info proposed into pieces, evaluating whether it is worth becoming a law. After the thorough evaluation of the bill, if the bill is acceptable, it will be passed on to be referred to by the whole house. This includes hearings and debates to persuade other congressmen to vote for the bill. Now, the bill can be recommitted and get sent back to the committees (if approved) or it can be voted on. This process is used in both the senate and the House of Representatives. Once the bill has been voted on, it is then sent to the president who may approve of the bill and sign it. If for some reason the president does not agree with it, the president may veto it. Once vetoed, the bill is sent back to congress, where it is voted on again. This time, it will take two-thirds of the votes to override the president’s veto. If it is signed by the president or overrides the veto, the bill then becomes a proper law.
This method of making laws may be “messy”, but I feel it is the best and most efficient way to pass laws in this country. Having many eyes and ears go through the proposed bill is also a good thing because it minimizes the chances of passing a bad law with mistakes. Sure it may take time, but it gets the job done in a more prudent way, being checked and carefully considered by committees. With committees, congress does not have to waste time reading every single bill, of which may not be eligible to be passed. Plus the process of sending it through different processes of votes along with allowing the president to veto and congress to override the veto prevents tyranny or a monarchy. The use of checks and balances in the process of making a law is fair because it requires more than one person to make a decision. Our country has been using this “messy” process for 112 sessions of congress, so I believe that creating a bill will always be like making sausages.