Vocabulary

adjourn v 1 отсрочивать; 2 откладывать

adjournment n отсрочка

amend the bill вносить поправки (изменения, дополнения) в законопроект

arm n власть

Committee on House Administration комитет палаты по управлению делами

confer v совещаться, вести переговоры

defeat v отвергать, отклонять, проваливать (законопроект)

die v прекращать существование

force out v вытеснять

hearing n слушание, устное разбирательство

initiate legislation осуществлять законодательную инициативу

override a veto отвергнуть вето

pass a bill принимать / утверждать законопроект

pocket veto «карманное вето» (неподписание президентом США законопроекта до роспуска конгресса)

refer v 1 направлять; 2 отсылать; 3 передавать (дело) в другую инстанцию

Senate Committee on Rules and Administration сенатский комитет по регламенту и управлению делами

sequence n 1 последовательность; 2 порядок следования

signature n подпись

table v 1 откладывать или оттягивать обсуждение; 2 класть под сукно, откладывать в долгий ящик

veto v налагать запрет /вето (на законопроект)

veto n вето, запрет, запрещение

withhold v 1 приостанавливать; 2 отказывать (в чем-либо)

Reading tasks

A Answer these questions.

1 Who can initiate new legislation in the USA?

2 Where is the proposed bill first introduced?

3 Where are hearings on a particular bill held?

4 What can committee recommendations include?

5 When is the bill considered by the House of Representatives as a whole?

6 Is the bill viewed in the Senate?

7 What can the result of the debate be?

8 Under what circumstances does the bill become law? Is there only one way to it?

9 Who has the right of veto?

B Decide which of statements a), b) or c) in the exercise below corresponds exactly to the meaning of the text and best completes each statement.

1 Tax or budget bill may be proposed by

a) the President

b) the representatives

c) the senators.

2 After being introduced in the House, the bill undergoes hearings

a) in the Senate

b) in the White House

c) in one of the standing committees.

3 The bill dies if

a) the committee chooses not to consider the bill

b) the committee suggests changes in the bill

c) the committee proposes an entirely new bill.

4 The bill goes to the Senate for committee hearings and general debate if

a) it is passed in the House committees

b) it is given recommendations for changes

c) it is passed in the House of Representatives as a whole.

5 Once passed by the Senate as a whole and viewed by two more standing committees the bill is then

a) signed by the congressmen

b) signed by the heads of both chambers of the Congress

c) signed by the President.

6 The bill becomes law if the President

a) approves the bill and signs it

b) uses the “pocket veto” by withholding his signature within ten days of congressional adjournment

c) vetoes the bill.

C Using the following scheme speak on the process of law-making in the USA.

How H.R.* 2362 BECAME A LAW

Recommendation

Before H.R. 2362 became a law, it had to make a number of stops on its journey through Congress.

_______

* H.R. – House of Representatives

Language focus

Complete the following text putting the words in brackets into the appropriate present simple active or passive form and the appropriate active or passive form of the infinitive.

Congressmen 1) _____ (do) work long and hard. But most of their work 2) _____ (do) in committee meetings. Here bills 3) _____ (study), experts 4) _____ (consult), and recommendations 5) _____ (make) to the whole House or Senate. During a two-year term of Congress, as many as 20,000 bills may 6) _____ (introduce). Some may be important, some not, but no Congressman could possibly 7) _____ (know) enough about 20,000 bills to vote intelligently on them. Here’s where the committees 8) _____ (come) in. There 9) _____ (be) 16 “standing”, or permanent, committees in the Senate and 22 in the House. Each committee 10) _____ (sit) and 11) _____ (sort) the bills it 12) _____ (be) responsible for. Because the Congressmen on a committee 13) _____ (be) experts in that field, they 14) _____ (accept) and 15) _____ (improve) some bills, but 16) _____ (reject) most of them.

Generally Congress 17) _____ (go) along with the decisions of its committees. For a bill to become a law it must 18) _____ (pass) by both the House and the Senate and signed by the President. If the President 19) _____ (disapprove), he 20) _____ (veto) the bill by refusing to sign it and 21) _____ (send) it back to Congress. The President’s objections 22) _____ (read) and 23) _____ (debate), then the bill 24) _____ (put) to vote. To overcome the President’s veto the bill must 25) _____ (get) a two-thirds majority in each chamber.