Act: Legislation that has passed both Houses of Congress and has been either approved by the President or passed over his veto, thus becoming law. Also used technically for a bill that has been passed by one House of Congress.
Bill: A draft, or tentative version, of what might become part of the written law. A bill that is enacted is called an act or statute.
Committee(s): Committees are groups of Members of Congress appointed to investigate, debate, and report on legislation.
Federal: Used to refer to the United States Government, its legislative, executive, and judicial branches, and the statutes, rules, and regulations enacted by those branches of government.
Legislation: The preparation and enactment of laws by a legislative body through its lawmaking process. The legislative process includes evaluating, amending, and voting on proposed laws and is concerned with the words used in the bill to communicate the values, judgments, and purposes of the proposal.
Legislative history research: Tracking the progress of a bill through the legislative process and to the examination of documents created through that process. The purpose of conducting such research is to ascertain the legislative intent, that is the purpose for the legislation as intended by Congress.
Policy: The explicit or implicit standing plan that an organization or government uses as a guide for action
Report: The printed record of a committee’s actions, including its votes, recommendations, and views on a bill, a question of public policy, or its findings and conclusions based on oversight inquiry, investigation, or other study.
Social welfare policy: Government’s response to human needs such as food, housing, healthcare, employment, and other necessities. Many contemporary U.S. social welfare policies have roots in the New Deal programs of the 1930s, which were responses to the Great Depression. The civil unrest of the 1960s, the “Great Recession” of 2008, and the COVID-19 pandemic also brought about major policy responses.
Statute: A law enacted by a legislature. Statutes are also called acts, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Federal laws must be passed by both houses of Congress, the House of Representative and the Senate, and then usually require approval from the President before they can take effect.
United State Code: The United States Code is a compilation of public laws currently in force, organized by subject matter.
The U.S. Code is organized by subject area into 54 titles. Titles are further broken down by chapter and section. Citations to the U.S. Code look like this: 42 U.S.C. 1382 or 42 § 1382. This means the law appears in title 42, section 1382 of the Code.
