he assignment: (2–3 pages)

• Briefly describe the issue you selected.
• Describe two or three federal statutes that relate to the issue and explain how each does so.
• Describe one current legislative bill related to the issue, and explain how it might impact the law or policy related to the issue if passed. Be specific.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list only for those resources not included in the Learning Resources for this course.

A statute provides the written process that transforms a bill from a static piece of legislation to action. Enacting a statute is more complicated than simply having the legislature vote on and approve it. Once a member of Congress introduces a bill, it is sent to various House and Senate committees and subcommittees, any of which may edit, add to, amend, or “kill” the bill at any point. Therefore, only a small fraction of the bills submitted for consideration are passed into law. If a bill passes through the committees, it will be presented for a floor debate and full vote of both houses of Congress. Then, it must be signed into law by the President. After they are voted on and signed into law, bills are then subject to interpretation and analysis by the judicial system regarding how they apply to specific legal problems and cases.