CONGRESS Lawmakers introduce bills to 'score,' not win

Legislators keep promises and raise awareness, but a tiny percentage actually become law.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ohio lawmakers introduced bills this year to grant tax breaks on college textbooks, allow TV reporters to record court proceedings and ban importing foreign-made American flags.
The proposals were among the 96 percent of bills introduced in Congress this session that failed to become laws.
Congressional scholars say most of the 10,662 bills from this two-year session had a slim chance of passing because of the sheer number and the partisan divide over priority agenda items. Still, that doesn't stop lawmakers from writing bills to do things such as amend the Constitution to designate "God Bless America" as the national hymn.
"There are a lot of bills that will never see the light of passage," said Stanley Renshon, a political scientist and psychologist at the City University of New York. "The point of it is to score points. It's part of the political process."
Difficulty
With 435 members in the U.S. House, it's difficult for individual lawmakers to stand out. Introducing a bill helps less well-known members get publicity in their home districts. It also helps them fulfill promises made to supporters.
Introducing legislation also can be productive. Sometimes it takes several years for an idea to catch on, win support and gain momentum. Many lawmakers view the introduction as a way of laying the groundwork for a proposal that may get enough support to pass in subsequent years.
That was the case for Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who introduced a bill authorizing a memorial for World War II veterans four times before it became law in 1993. The memorial, which sits on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated earlier this year.
"That just shows how long it takes to accomplish something of value inside a complex institution like Congress and in this very diverse nation," said Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat. "It also shows that if you persevere, all things are possible."
During the session that ends on Dec. 31, members of the U.S. House authored 6,947 bills while senators proposed 3,715. Only 458 of them -- or 4.3 percent -- became law, according to the Library of Congress. These numbers don't account for multiple bills introduced on the same topic or for legislation that passed as part of larger bills or spending packages.
All pending bills died when Congress adjourned earlier this month and will have to be introduced again during the next two-year session to be considered.
Other bills that didn't make the cut were many that have been introduced again and again without success, such as Rep. Ralph Regula's proposal to cede the nation's capital back to Maryland and a plan from Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a Cleveland Democrat, to create a Department of Peace.
These re-occurring bills -- including legislation from Rep. Barney Frank, D-Ma., to legalize state-sanctioned medical marijuana and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., to apologize for slavery and consider reparations -- are always part of Congress, experts say.
'Never Never Land'
"I call them Never Never Land bills because they are never going to go anywhere," Renshon said. "The reason people do it is to keep the faith, to raise the issue, to keep it bubbling."
Regula, a 16-term Republican from Navarre, has introduced his bill to cede the District of Columbia to Maryland every session since 1990. The plan would allow D.C. residents to vote for two senators and have a voting member of Congress. Currently, the district is represented by a non-voting delegate.
"I put it in because it becomes a benchmark. It gets the idea out there," Regula said, adding that he doesn't expect it to pass anytime soon.
"There are all kinds of configurations that get tossed in the hopper, and I think this one is very practical and would serve the interests of the people, so that's why I do it," he said.
John Green, director of the University of Akron's Ray C. Bliss Institute for Applied Politics, said it's fine that most bills don't become law. In fact, it's a blessing, he said.
"We tend to have a view of Congress that the more bills, the better, without necessarily asking about the quality of the bills," Green said. "I'd like to see not how many bills they pass, but whether they actually accomplish what Congress set out to do."