(1) a piece of paper
money worth a specified amount.
a proposed
law to be voted on by a lawmaking
body. In the
United States Congress, a bill may be introduced in either the
House or the
Senate. For a bill to become
law, it has to go through a very precise procedure. First it is assigned a number and then is printed. If the bill is introduced in the
House, it first has to be approved through a
House committee and then passed by the whole
House. It then is
sent to the
Senate, where it goes through the same procedure. If the
Senate makes any
amendments to the bill, then it has to go back to the
House to be reapproved. When a bill is finally approved by both the
House and
Senate, it is
sent to the
President for his signature. See also
House and
Senate in this glossary.