The video, Will America Summon the Political Will, is a news story discussing the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007. The video goes into the Senate procedure of introducing bills and goes in depth as to why the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007 did not pass once it was brought to the floor of the Senate Standing Committee, Environment and Public Works. The discussion points of this summary will include who was involved in derailing the bill, why it was derailed, why it was not brought to a vote, and the process of bill introductions.
First of all, there is a certain procedure by which a bill is introduced to the Senate. There is an opening statement led by the host of the floor meeting, followed by speakers …show more content…
This is what determines what committee the bill is assigned to. For example, the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007 is focused on cleaning up our environment, so it falls under the Senate Standing Committee, Environment and Public Works. This bill was brought to the committee floor in December of 2007. Barbara Boxer begins the presentation with her opening statement. The authors of the bill, as well as many other senators, follow her with information and statistics regarding the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007. Ben Inhofe and Mitch McConnell are two of these senators. Inhofe and McConnell are against the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007. To derail this bill, Inhofe submitted hundreds of amendments to the floor. Inhofe claims that the bill would be “all pain and no gain.” He states that China would benefit from this bill because “legislation would drive up energy costs,” while Americans would lose more of their jobs. According to the video, the bill was “dead on arrival” due to the fact that it was discussed during the time when gasoline prices were peaking. The bill would raise …show more content…
On page 550 of the Lowi text book, it states that “Even if a member of Congress, the White House, or a federal agency has spent months developing and drafting a piece of legislation, it does not become a bill until it is submitted officially by a senator or representative to the clerk of the House or Senate and referred to the appropriate committee for deliberation.” This correlates to Will America Summon the Political Will because both discuss the process by which a bill is introduced to the Senate. On page 152 of the Lowi text book, it states that “Opponents of a bill usually prefer an open rule, which permits potentially damaging floor debate and makes it easier to add amendments that may cripple the bill or weaken its chances for passage.” Ben Inhofe and Mitch McConnell used this in the deliberation of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007. They strongly opposed the bill and did everything in their power to ensure it did not pass. In the text book, on page 153, it states that “When a bill comes out of conference, it faces one more hurdle. Before a bill can be sent to the president for signing, the House-Senate conference report must be approved on the floor of each chamber.” The Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007 was not approved on the floor of the Senate, and therefore, did not become a law. I personally believe that it was a good thing