Passing a Bill

As part of my Fellowship on Capitol Hill, I followed Missy's footsteps to the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives (see bottom left corner of c-span snapshot below) as Members debated and voted on this year's State Department, Foreign Operations appropriations bill. Since February, I have worked with the staff who crafted and moved the bill through the House committee and floor process. As staff and fellows, we were also thanked by the Chairwoman and Members of the Subcommittee on the floor for all of our hard work (recorded in the Congressional record, excerpted below).

It was fascinating to watch democracy in action and gain deep insights into the American legislative process. The experience is also a nice bookend to an internship I had in 1998, when I similarly watched from the floor of the Senate chamber as Senator Mike DeWine delivered a floor statement (on Africa, ironically) that I drafted.

Now we wait for the Senate to finish its version of the bill -- and, if all goes as it should, we will then meet in a House-Senate conference to determine the text of the final bill, prepare it for final passage, send it to both houses of Congress for a final vote, and then it goes off to the President for signature. Viva democracy!