How Laws Are Made This document gives a broad outline of where laws come from in the United States beyond just the parts of the lawmaking process you can see here on GovTrack. What is it? The Constitution is the founding document of the country and is the highest legal authority. Ratified in , and in operation since , it sets the fundamental structure and limitations of the government of the Untited States of America. The Constitution gave different but overlapping powers to the branches so that no branch has the highest authority but all branches are involved in the creation of law.
What does it mean today? The Constitution was necessarily vague when it was written. The founders of the nation could not anticipate all possible problems that would face the nation.
As a result, more than years of court cases have given more precise meaning to the original text. This Annotated Constitution explains what the original text of the Constitution is now understood to mean. How is Constitutional law created?
The Constitution can still be amended by a process involving the Congress and the states, though this is rare. When an amendment is proposed by the Congress, you can see it here on GovTrack as a joint resolution. Constitutional law is also created as new court cases refine the meaning of the original document see case law below. This Law is Called: Statutes. Congress is the first branch of government created by the Constitution and it is primarily responsible for creating national law, subject to the limitations set in the Constitution.
Congress is made up of two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, which are filled by direct election by the American public. How is statutory law created? Statutory law is created by the Congress. So we have a whole page on how a bill becomes a law.
What are the checks and balances on this type of law? The executive branch can choose how to enforce the law, within the limits set by Congress. The federal courts can rule that Congress acted outside of the limitations of the Constitution when enacting a law i. The people of the United States can elect new representatives and senators in the next election. Where can this law be read? You can follow the process of bills becoming laws here on GovTrack. After a bill becomes a law, it is assigned a number and then published in the United States Statutes at Large.
Laws of a general and permanent nature are then incorporated into the United States Code. Not found in the U. Code are temporary laws, laws affecting just a few people, and law created by parts of the government other than the Congress.
Federal Agencies Source of Law: The executive branch of the federal government, which consists of the President and some of the federal agencies. Although the Constitution gave all lawmaking powers to the Congress, Congress has in turn delegated some of those powers to the executive branch of the federal government.
Regulations are created in a different manner than the statutes created by Congress, but regulations also have the force of law because they are created with the authority of Congress. How are regulations created? When federal agencies create regulations, they must do so through a process proscribed by Congress. That process typically involves a public comment period. In the public comment period, Americans — and often American businesses — provide expertise to federal agencies about how the regulation would affect them.
Agencies are legally bound to take that expertise into account before they finalize the regulation. Because the federal government has hundreds of agencies, there are many thousands of new regulations being issued all the time.
For more about that process, see FederalRegister. Congress can decide whether or not to provide funding for federal programs. The Customs Service requires the product to be marked "Made in," or "Product of" Finland since the product is of Finnish origin and the claim refers to the U.
Examples of other specific processing claims are: "Bound in U. Blanks made in foreign country of origin. Example: A computer imported from Korea is packaged in the U. Stating Made in USA on the package would deceive consumers about the origin of the product inside.
The camera lenses are manufactured in the U. A magazine ad for the camera is headlined "Beware of Imported Imitations" and states "Other high-end camera makers use imported parts made with cheap foreign labor. But at Acme Camera, we want only the highest quality parts for our cameras and we believe in employing American workers. The marketer should be prepared to substantiate the broader U.
Comparative claims should be truthful and substantiated, and presented in a way that makes the basis for comparison clear for example, whether the comparison is to another leading brand or to a previous version of the same product.
They should truthfully describe the U. Example: An ad for cellular phones states "We use more U. This comparative claim is not deceptive. Example: A product is advertised as having "twice as much U.
This comparative claim is deceptive because the difference between the U. A product that includes foreign components may be called "Assembled in USA" without qualification when its principal assembly takes place in the U.
Example: A lawn mower, composed of all domestic parts except for the cable sheathing, flywheel, wheel rims and air filter 15 to 20 percent foreign content is assembled in the U. An "Assembled in USA" claim is appropriate. Example: All the major components of a computer, including the motherboard and hard drive, are imported. An "Assembled in U. The Tariff Act gives Customs and the Secretary of the Treasury the power to administer the requirement that imported goods be marked with a foreign country of origin for example, "Made in Japan".
Customs defines "substantial transformation" as a manufacturing process that results in a new and different product with a new name, character, and use that is different from that which existed before the change. Customs makes country-of-origin determinations using the "substantial transformation" test on a case-by-case basis. Even if Customs determines that an imported product does not need a foreign country-of-origin mark, it is not necessarily permissible to promote that product as Made in USA.
Manufacturers and marketers should check with Customs to see if they need to mark their products with the foreign country of origin. The FTC has jurisdiction over foreign origin claims on products and in packaging that are beyond the disclosures required by Customs for example, claims that supplement a required foreign origin marking to indicate where additional processing or finishing of a product occurred.
The FTC also has jurisdiction over foreign origin claims in advertising and other promotional materials. Unqualified U. To avoid misleading consumers, marketers should clearly disclose the foreign manufacture of a product. Example: A television set assembled in Korea using an American-made picture tube is shipped to the U. That is, if the statement and the entire ad imply that any foreign content or processing is negligible, the advertiser must substantiate that claim or net impression.
The advertiser in this scenario would not be able to substantiate the implied Made in USA claim because the product was "substantially transformed" in Korea. Textile products that are imported must be labeled as required by the Customs Service. A textile or wool product partially manufactured in the U. On a garment with a neck, the country of origin must be disclosed on the front of a label attached to the inside center of the neck — either midway between the shoulder seams or very near another label attached to the inside center of the neck.
On a garment without a neck, and on other kinds of textile products, the country of origin must appear on a conspicuous and readily accessible label on the inside or outside of the product.
Catalogs and other mail order promotional materials for textile and wool products, including those disseminated on the Internet, must disclose whether a product is made in the U.
The Fur Products Labeling Act requires the country of origin of imported furs to be disclosed on all labels and in all advertising.
Or visit the FTC online at www. Click on Consumer Protection. American Automobile Labeling Act — Requires that each automobile manufactured on or after October 1, , for sale in the U. Buy American Act — Requires that a product be manufactured in the U. For more information, review the Buy American Act at 41 U.
Senate, it goes through many of the same steps it went through in the U. The bill is discussed in a Senate committee and then reported to the Senate floor to be voted on. Senators vote by voice. Senate and is ready to go to the President. If a bill has passed in both the U. House of Representatives and the U. Senate and has been approved by the President, or if a presidential veto has been overridden, the bill becomes a law and is enforced by the government.
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Visit our For Teachers section for resources, activities, and lesson plans that complement the material on this site. How Laws Are Made. The Bill Begins Laws begin as ideas. Electronic Voting Machine. Glossary Place your mouse over a word highlighted in blue to see its definition, or look at the full list.
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