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Bills die by being ignored
What committees do
Committees are where bills get read, sometimes for the very first time. They get hearings, experts are called in to speak to their effects, and amendments are added. Committee members are not required to do any of it, including giving a bill a hearing, so a bill can sit in the endless to-do pile.
The deadline
A bill that does not reach the floor for a vote before its Congress ends is dead, and its supporters have to start over from the beginning in the next one. All that time and effort can simply disappear and never be heard from again.
Why they exist
Committees exist so a small group with deep expertise in one area can be the first line of review, instead of the whole House looking at every little thing. The House has 20 permanent committees, the Senate has 17, and four joint committees draw members from both chambers.
Why did Congress build its work around committees?
Woodrow Wilson, then a political scientist, wrote in his 1885 book Congressional Government that Congress in its committee rooms is Congress at work. Committees let members specialize in subjects such as agriculture, defense, or tax law, which hundreds of members cannot do together on the floor. Chairs have historically controlled the agenda, which decides which bills get hearings. The House created its first standing committee, on elections, in 1789.
Why must a dead bill start from scratch?
Each Congress lasts two years, and every bill still pending when it ends expires in both chambers. A new Congress is a new body, so it takes up only what its own members introduce. The Senate calls itself a continuing body because only about a third of its seats are up in any election, but its pending bills still lapse. A sponsor who reintroduces the same text receives a new bill number.
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