What happens to bills the Senate has not addressed by the end of this year? Print Share
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
What happens to bills the Senate has not addressed by the end of this year?
A new Congress forms every two years. A Congress consists of two sessions, each lasting one year.
The second session of the 111th Congress will adjourn in a matter of days, and the 112th Congress will begin in January, 2011.
Any remaining business the Senate does not resolve in the next few days must begin anew in the 112th Congress. For example, bills that passed out of committees in the 111th Congress -- but were not yet approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate – are considered dead, unless they are reintroduced in the new Congress.