![]() Businesses and investors that wouldn't otherwise give these blighted areas a second glance react to the incentives and invest. Robert Kennedy introduced the first enterprise zone legislation, known as the "Urban Employment Opportunities Development Act of 1967." The bill offered accelerated depreciation schedules, federal tax credits, and job-training programs as incentives for employers to locate in urban poverty centers.Įnterprise zones have succeeded in attracting needed capital to our urban poverty centers. Do you know the new members of Congress?.I've long admired "enterprise zones" - a concept that promotes development of blighted areas, often in the inner city, by providing tax incentives for businesses to invest. ![]() Given our nation's fiscal woes, I wanted my first two bills to address the recession and help get the economy going again. I went over the language of my bills with them line by line until I was fully satisfied that it accomplished my intent. ![]() Members meet with Legislative Counsel, give them an outline and description of what we want to accomplish, and they come back to us with a draft of the bill. The House of Representatives provides a special, nonpartisan staff of lawyers, called Legislative Counsel, who are experts in various areas of the law. Fortunately for us, members of Congress are not directly responsible for drafting the language (otherwise we would all have to be lawyers!) of our bills. You might be wondering how exactly we write and introduce a bill. We've been getting a few bills ready the last couple months and I have five more in the works. This past week, I introduced my first two bills. ![]() Think of it as the equivalent of a college term paper. Introducing a bill, though, is more work than just adding your name. Sometimes the number of co-sponsors is important because it helps a bill get a hearing other times it just makes a statement of support. I've already co-sponsored over 30 bills, which means I've added my name as a supporter of a bill early in the process. GIRL: By that time, it's very unlikely that you become a law.(CNN) - If becoming a member of Congress is like going to college, then crafting legislation is our homework.Ĭo-sponsoring a bill is fairly easy, like a group project which you work on with others. If the President vetoes me, I have to go back to Congress, and they vote on me again, and by that time you're so old. GIRL: You mean even if the whole Congress says you should be a law, the President can still say no?īILL: Yes, that's called a veto. I'm just a bill Yes, I'm only a bill And if they vote for me on Capitol Hill Well, then I'm off to the White House Where I'll wait in a line With a lot of other bills For the President to sign And he signs me then I'll be a law How I hope and pray that he will But today I am still just a bill Ooh! But it looks like I'm gonna live! Now I got the House of Representatives and they vote on me.īILL: Then I got the Senate and the whole thing starts all over again. I hope they decide to report on my favorably, otherwise I may die.īILL: Yeah, die in committee. GIRL: Listen to those congressmen arguing! Is all that discussion and debate about you?īILL: Yeah, I'm one of the lucky ones. I'm just a bill Yes I'm only a bill And I got as far as Capitol Hill Well, now I'm stuck in committee And I'll sit here and wait While a few key congressmen discuss and debate Whether they should let me be a law How I hope and pray that they will But today I am still just a bill And I'll remain a bill until they decide to make me a law. Some folks back home decided they wanted a law passed, so they called their local congressman and he said, 'You're right, there oughta be a law.' Then he sat down and wrote me out and introduced me t Congress, and I became a bill. GIRL: Gee, Bill, you certainly have a lot of patience and courage!īILL: Well I got this far. I'm just a bill Yes, I'm only a bill And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill Well, it's a long, long journey To the capitol city It's a long, long wait While I'm sitting in committee But I know I'll be a law someday At least I hope and pray that I will But today I am still just a bill GIRL: Whew! You sure gotta climb a lot of steps to get to this Capitol Building here in Washington! But I wonder who that sad little scrap of paper is?
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