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The chart below indicates the current status of the U.S. MGM
Bill proposal and briefly details the major phases of
the federal legislative process.
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Phase 1:
Submission
The first step in the legislative process is to
submit a formal bill proposal to Congress to attract
a sponsor. In 2008, this
task was completed on January 7th, when the U.S. MGM Bill proposal was faxed
to each individual member of the House and Senate in
Washington, DC.
This is the current stage of the MGM Bill, where we
are searching for a legislative sponsor.
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Phase 2:
Sponsorship and Introduction
If one or more sponsors are found, the sponsoring member(s) will
introduce the bill to their chamber of Congress,
where it will be assigned a legislative number for
tracking. Only members of Congress may sponsor a
bill.
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Phase 3:
Referral to Committee(s)
and Subcommittee(s)
The bill will then be referred
to one or more committees and/or subcommittees for
consideration.
The committee phase is where most of the work
gets done. During this phase, committee members
will evaluate the MGM Bill by researching current facts
and opinions on male circumcision. If the bill
is deemed important enough,
public hearings may be held to request testimony
from doctors, intactivists, legal experts, and
religious officials.
At the end of the investigation,
the bill language will be reviewed and possibly "marked up"
(amended) through deliberation. The bill will then
be voted on by all members of the subcommittee
(or committee) and, if
passed, will be reported to the full committee for a
committee wide review and final vote.
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Phase 4:
House and Senate Floor Vote
If the bill is passed by the full committee(s), it
will then be sent to the chamber floor for
deliberation, possible amendment, and a simple
majority vote. If voted up, it then passes to the other chamber
(ie: the Senate) for a similar deliberation and
vote. If differing versions of the same bill are
passed by each chamber, then both versions of the bill
may be
referred to a
Conference Committee where
compromise language will be crafted so that a single
bill can be sent back to the House and Senate
floor for a
another vote.
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Phase 5:
Presidential Signature
If the bill passes both the House and the Senate, it
will be delivered to the
President
for his signature. If the
President vetoes or pocket vetoes the bill,
Congress may override the veto with a 2/3
majority vote.
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Phase 6:
Enactment,
Implementation, and
Enforcement
It the MGM Bill is signed by the President, it
will become law on the date specified in the bill.
The responsibility of enforcing and carrying out
the directives of the law then falls to the
Executive Branch. In this
final stage, intactivist groups will work closely with key agencies
like the
Department of Health and Human Services and
the Federal Bureau
of Investigation to ensure that
the directives of the law are carried out
as Congress intended.
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