Because of the broad scope of the current law, the authorities of modern America can blame a crime on the overwhelming majority of people if they really want to. Whether or not you are brought to justice depends more on law enforcement discretion than on any legal rule. And it is difficult, if not impossible, for ordinary people to follow all the laws to which they are subject and live a normal life without coming into conflict with at least some of them. Another dimension of the fear of lengthy laws is the fear that they contain buried and offensive provisions that legislators will not find until it is too late. Americans often complain that our laws are too complicated, with many laws covering dozens, if not hundreds, of pages of dense language. When the late Herman Cain was briefly the frontrunner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, he received sustained applause by promising to veto any bill longer than three pages. « For conservatives, [lengthy legislation] becomes a metaphor for complicated governments, » said Norm Ornstein, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-wing think tank. « They throw away 1,000 or 1,500 pages, and it looks like they`re doing things that invade every detail of everybody`s life. » One of the most important steps in enacting a valid law is the requirement that it be brought to the attention of those who are supposed to be bound by it. There would be no justice if the State held its people accountable for their conduct before informing them of the illegality of such conduct. In practice, our laws are published immediately after their adoption so that the public is aware of them.
The conduct of the debate is mainly governed by the Standing Orders of the House, which are adopted at the beginning of each Congress. At the 106th Congress, the rules were recodified for simplicity and clarity. Jefferson`s textbook, prepared by Thomas Jefferson for his own leadership as President of the Senate from 1797 to 1801, is another recognized authority. The House of Representatives has a long-standing rule that the provisions of the Jefferson Manual should govern the House in all applicable cases and if they do not conflict with the rules of the House. Most of the parliamentary questions that arise during the debate are answered by a precedent-based judgment in a similar situation. The Member of the House is present in the Chamber to help the Speaker make the right decisions on parliamentary matters. The preparation of a copy of the bill as passed by the House can be a detailed and complicated process due to the large number and complexity of amendments adopted by the House to some bills. These amendments can be tabled in a lively debate with little or no prior formal preparation. The amendment can be used to insert new wording, replace other words for those specified in the bill, or delete parts of the bill. In some cases, amendments proposed in plenary are drafted in large print. Each amendment must be inserted in exactly the right place in the bill, with spelling and punctuation exactly as passed by Parliament. It is extremely important that the Senate receive a copy of the bill in the exact form in which it was passed by the House.
The creation of such a copy is the responsibility of the Registration Clerk. We may also be able to reduce the discretion of the executive branch to enforce the law if the Supreme Court abolishes Chevron`s deference, as Gorsuch rightly advocates. But even if that were to happen, federal agencies would retain a wide margin of discretion in deciding which violators prosecute. This is inevitable as long as the scope of federal regulation remains as enormous as it is now. And in practice, judges would still often bend to authorities` interpretations of complex regulatory laws, where bureaucrats appear to have more expertise than judges. For these reasons, law enforcement priorities would continue to change – sometimes drastically – if partisan control of the White House changed hands. More serious politicians in both parties recognize that complex issues – such as health care, taxes and national security – must be addressed in detail. But it is always reasonable to ask why so many laws seem so long. Once the hearings are over, the subcommittee will usually consider the bill in a session commonly referred to as a « markup session. » The views of both sides will be considered in detail and a vote will be held at the end of the discussions to determine the activities of the subcommittee. It may decide to refer the bill to the committee as a whole, with or without amendment, or with a negative or zero recommendation. The subcommittee may also propose that it « submit » them or postpone the action indefinitely.
Each member of the subcommittee has one vote, regardless of political affiliation. Proxy voting is no longer permitted in House committees. « Then came these giants. Here is the report of the conference – 1,053 pages, report weighing 14 books. Then there was a reconciliation bill six months late, which was 1,186 pages and 15 books. And the resolution continues in the long term — it was two months too late, and it`s 1,057 pages and weighs 14 pounds. Well, it was a total of 43 pounds of paper and ink. They had three hours — yes, three hours — to review each of them, and it took 300 people from my Office of Management and Budget to read the bill so that the government would not shut down. Congress should not send any more. No, and if you do, I won`t sign it. The Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, prepares the bordering laws and provides marginal editorial notes that include the statutes mentioned in the text and other explanatory details. The marginal notes also include the classifications of the United States Code, allowing the reader to immediately determine where the law will appear in the code. Each bill also includes an informative guide to the bill`s legislative history, including the committee report number, the name of the committee in each chamber, and the date of consideration and passage in each chamber, with a reference to the minutes of Congress by volume, year, and date.
A reference to presidential statements regarding the approval of a law or the veto of a law when the veto has been overturned and the law becomes is included in legislative history as a quote from the weekly compilation of presidential documents. The main task of Congress is to legislate. In addition, the function of the Senate is to deliberate and approve treaties and certain appointments by the President. Nach dem 25. Amendments to the Constitution require a vote in each chamber to confirm the president`s nomination to the position of vice president if a vacancy arises in that office. In terms of impeachment, the House of Representatives presents the charges — a function similar to that of a grand jury — and the Senate sits as a court to hear impeachment. No indicted person may be removed without a two-thirds majority of the voting senators, subject to a quorum. Congress also plays a role in presidential elections, in accordance with the Constitution and the law. The two chambers shall meet for a joint session on the sixth day of January following a presidential election, unless they determine another day by law to count electoral votes.
If no candidate obtains a majority of the total electoral vote, the House of Representatives, each national delegation having one vote, elects the President from among the three candidates with the highest number of electoral votes.
