We all realize that if we want to stop horse abuse and slaughter, we must change the laws that govern our land. Politics and the passing of legislation was a boring subject to most of us when we were in school. As teens and young adults, most of us never realized we would have the need to understand how a bill becomes a law. This page will help make up for that.

First, a bill is written by anyone, usually a lawyer, because of the required terminology. Often, special interest groups work with the writer of the bill, so that the bill can say what the special interest group wants it to. Few, if any, bills are written on behalf of anyone not associated with a special interest group, be it a nonprofit organization or a for-profit corporation. Anyone who can get a bill written and find a sponsor for it can do so in this great country. When we think that our vote is worthless and that our representatives are all crooks that are 'on the take', let us remember that in fact, this country is run by special interest groups. As a united group of citizens who are against horse slaughter/cruelty to animals, we are a special interest group! Our power can be demonstrated and summed up by the fact that horse slaughter for human is on the brink of permanent extinction in this country.

Always, the path a bill takes to become a law, is almost identical to the federal model, therefore we will refer to the federal model on this website. It is important for us to understand how congress works, and how important Committees are, when it comes to getting a bill passed. Just as colic is the leading cause of death in horses, Committee is where the vast majority of dead bills go to die. But, they can be rescued, by people who care enough to take action and get involved, and fight the good fight!

Committees exist on both the state and federal level. Each branch of government gets to name its own committees. All committee members are elected members of congress, consisting of members of the House and Senate. Always, the House has its set of committees and the Senate has its set of committees. This is necessary because both branches of congress mirror each other. One bill is sent to the House of Representatives; another bill, called a "companion bill", that closely resembles the original bill, is sent to the Senate. Both bills are "entered" into the records, and sent to the appropriate committee where the committee members might have/make time to review them and pass them out of committee and onto the floor for a vote. This is what frustrated our side in 2004, when Bob Goodlatte was the head of the committee that held our national slaughter bill. We had enough support for the bill to get it passed, if we could get the committee to turn loose of it and send it there, but we could not. Bob Goodlatte, as head of the committe, flat refused to allow the bill out of committee, and that is where it expired (died) at the end of that congressional session. Bob Goodlatte was a naughty senator, whose reputation was easily impeached by his many enemies, and plenty of newly angry ones were created throughout the months that he held our bill in his (bribed) hand. Bob Goodlatte lost his subsequent election.

Yes, we must get our bills out of committee by writing/faxing/whatever, all of the members of the committees, and sometimes there can be many, many, many of them...we must also ensure that once the bill gets to the floors for a vote, we have enough support in each house to guarantee that they both pass, at which time they...go back to a committee! This is why we constantly hear the word, "co-sponsor", with more and more signing on.

Sponsors are congressional representatives who have agreed to vote "yes" to our favored bill. There is an "Original Sponsor"- this is the congressional representative who introduced the bill to congress. Sometimes, there are more than one of these people from the outset. In that case, they are "Original Co-Sponsors". After that, we procure more "co-sponsors". They are all "Co-Sponsors" because the only "sponsor" is referred to as the "Original". So, when you write to your congressional representatives, you will almost always be asking them to become "co-sponsors" to the bill, or thanking them for being one.

"Sponsors", "Co-sponsors"- they are our representatives who are stating, for the record, that they intend to vote "yes" for our bill. They can change their mind at any time and withdraw their co-sponsorship/sponsorship, which is far from unheard of. Only gathering a majority with a wide margin can we fully expect to get our bills passed in the House and/or Senate. Knowing how many co-sponsors we have, helps us gague our chances of getting our bills passed to the President (or Governor, at the state level) and signed into law.

Once a bill and its companion pass favorably (are approved) in both the House and Senate, they are returned to a committee to align the language so that both bills completely match. Then, they are returned to the House and Senate once again so that both may approve the slight changes that made them both match.

Finally, the single bill is sent back to Committee and forwarded to the President or Governor, to be signed into law or not, which is called a "veto". It pretty much requires a president or governor who is personally dedicated to a specific cause to get the president to veto a bill. Usually, it takes several months for a law to go into effect once it is signed by the President or Governor. The time the law takes effect is contained in the bill text.

Related Links/How to Affect Change

* The Most Effective Way to Affect Change
* Effective Letter Writing
* How to Write A Press Release
* How to Get Radio Coverage
Additional pages to be added soon.