Sponsored and Co-sponsored Legislation

Before a proposed piece of legislation can be considered by the House of Representatives, it must first be sponsored by a Member of Congress (either a Member of the House or a Member of the Senate). Members of Congress who are not the primary sponsor of a piece of legislation may express their strong support for the legislation by becoming a co-sponsor of that legislation. Here are the pieces of legislation that Congressman Wittman has sponsored or co-sponsored.

Committee Reports

The House of Representatives divides its work among over twenty permanent committees. Normally, before a piece of legislation is considered by the House it has been reviewed by at least one of the committees and a report is issued by that committee describing the legislation and indicating (on section-by-section basis) how the proposed statute changes existing statutes. These are the committee reports of the current Congress.

Proceedings of the House

The Congressional Record is the official transcript of the proceedings and debates of the U.S. Congress. The full text of the Congressional Record is pubilshed the day after each meeting of the House or Senate. A summary of what is happening currently on the Floor of the House is also available as the debate occurs.

Rules and Precedents of the House

The House Rules and Precedents are the official documents that spell out the process by which legislation is considered by the House and its committees; as well as specifying the authority of the officers and committees of the House. Several collections of material explaining the rules and precedents are available through the House Rules Comittee: General Parliamentary Procedure, House Committee Procedures, House Floor Procedures, and House and Senate parliamentary procedure (originally compiled by the Congressional Research Services of the Library of Congress).

Legislative Process

Tying It All Together: Learn About the Legislative Process, How Our Laws Are Made, and Enactment of a Law are publications that discuss the steps of our Federal lawmaking process from the source of an idea for a legislative proposal through its publication as a statute. A kid's version of How Laws Are Made is also available.

Roll Call Votes

The record of how each Member of the House voted on each vote where the vote was conducted electronically is available. These are the roll call votes.

Schedules of the House

Various schedules of upcoming House activites are available. On a daily basis, there is the Republican Whip's Daily Whipping Post. On a weekly basis, there is the Weekly House Program prepared by the Clerk of the House and the Weekly Whip Notice prepared by the Republican Whip. On an annual basis, there is the House Schedule compiled by the Clerk of the House and the Republican Whip's annual House Calendar.

Federal Laws

The U.S. Code is the official compilation of the current Federal statutes of a general and permanent nature. The Code is arranged according to subject matter under 50 subject headings ("titles"). The Code sets out the current status of the laws, incorporating all amendments into the text. Prior to being added to the U.S. Code, individual laws are published in pamphlet form as "slip laws" which are later collected together in chronological order (not in subject order) as the Statutes at Large.