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How Our Laws Are Made
XVII. Enrollment
When the bill has been agreed to in identical form by both bodieseither
without amendment by the Senate, or by House concurrence in the Senate
amendments, or by agreement in both bodies to the conference report --
a copy of the bill is enrolled for presentation to the President.
The preparation of the enrolled bill is a painstaking and important
task because it must reflect precisely the effect of all amendments, either
by way of deletion, substitution, or addition, agreed to by both bodies.
The enrolling clerk of the House, with respect to bills originating in
the House, receives the original engrossed bill, the engrossed Senate amendments,
the signed conference report, the several messages from the Senate, and
a notation of the final action by the House, for the purpose of preparing
the enrolled copy. From these the enrolling clerk must prepare meticulously
the final form of the bill, as it was agreed to by both Houses, for presentation
to the President. On occasion, as many as 500 amendments have been adopted,
each of which must be set out in the enrollment exactly as agreed to, and
all punctuation must be in accord with the action taken.
The enrolled bill is printed on parchment paper and certified by
the Clerk of the House stating that the bill originated in the House of
Representatives. A bill originating in the Senate is examined and certified
by the Secretary of the Senate. A House bill is then examined for accuracy
by the Committee on House Oversight. When the committee is satisfied with
the accuracy of the bill, the chairman of the committee attaches a slip
stating that it finds the bill truly enrolled and sends it to the Speaker
of the House for signature. All bills, regardless of the body in which
they originated, are signed first by the Speaker and then by the Vice President
of the United States, who, under the Constitution, serves as the President
of the Senate. The President pro tempore of the Senate may also sign enrolled
bills. The Speaker of the House may sign enrolled bills whether or not
the House is in session. The President of the Senate may sign bills only
while the Senate is actually sitting but advance permission is normally
granted to sign during a recess or after adjournment. If the Speaker or
the President of the Senate is unable to sign the bill, it may be signed
by an authorized Member of the respective House. After both signatures
are affixed, a House bill is returned to the Committee on House Oversight
for presentation to the President for action under the Constitution. A
Senate bill is presented to the President by the Secretary of the Senate.
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