(Woof! You sure gotta climb a lotta steps to get to this Capitol Building here in Washington! But I wonder who that sad little scrap of paper is?)
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 capital 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'm still just a bill.
(Gee, bill, you certainly have a lot of patience and courage!)
(Well I got this far. When I started, I wasn't even a bill
I was just an idea.
Some folks back home decided they wanted a law
passed,
So they called their local congressman and he said "You're right, there ought to be a law."
Then he sat down and wrote me out and
introduced me to Congress, and I became a bill. And I'll remain a bill until they decide to make me a law.)
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 sit here and wait
While a few key congressmen
Discuss and debate
Whether they should
Let me be a law
Oh how I hope and pray that they will,
But today I am still just a bill.
(Listen to those congressmen arguing! Is all that discussion and debate about you?)
(Yes. I'm one of the lucky ones. Most bills never even get this far. I hope they decide to report on me favorably, otherwise I may die.)
("Die?")
(Yeah: die in committee. Oooh! But it looks like I'm gonna live. Now I go to the House of Representatives and they vote on me.)
(If they vote "yes", what happens?)
(Then I go to the Senate and the whole thing starts all over again.)
(Oh no!)
(Oh yes!)
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 if he signs me then I'll be a law
Oh, how I hope and pray that he will,
But today I am still just a bill.
(You mean even if the whole Congress says you should be a law, the President can still say no?)
(Yes, that's called a "veto". If the President vetoes me, I have to go back to Congress, and they vote on me again, and by that time it's)
(By that time, it's very unlikely that you'll become a law! It's not easy to become a law, is it?)
No! But how I hope and I pray that I will,
But today I am still just a bill!
(He signed you, bill! Now you're a law!)
(Oh yes!)