"The Parliamentarian of the United States House of Representatives has developed an excellent resource for those of you who are interested in the legislative process.  If you would like to read about a recent real-life example of how this process works, please see the timeline below where I have detailed how my Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area legislation became law."

A bill begins with an IDEA:

Congressman Cramer knew that the Shoals was blessed with a rich cultural history as the birthplace of Helen Keller and W.C. Handy and all of its unique musical heritage and wanted to find a way to share that with the rest of the country.

Cramer believed the Shoals should be able to market itself as a culturally significant part of the United States, so he decided to work to designate Northwest Alabama as a "National Heritage Area."

By being named a National Heritage Area, the National Park Service would provide exceptional promotional opportunities for the Shoals and the prestige of recognition as a region of national historical significance.

The first step in getting the Shoals listed as a National Heritage Area was to introduce legislation that required the National Park Service to perform a "feasibility study" about the designation.

A bill must be INTRODUCED by a Member of Congress and CONSIDERED by a Congressional Committee:

On July 25, 2001, Cramer introduced House Bill 2628 (H.R. 2628), entitled the "Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area Study Act of 2001."

Since the area that would be designated a National Heritage Area included portions of other Congressional districts, Congressman Cramer approached those areas' Representatives Congressman Robert Aderholt (Ala.-04) and Congressman Roger Wicker (Miss.-01) to gauge their interest in the idea. Both Representatives Aderholt and Wicker agreed to be "co-sponsors" of Cramer's bill. This showed other Members of the House of Representatives that there was additional Congressional support of the study.

After they are introduced, bills are referred to the appropriate committee, which will consider or "mark-up" legislation. Congressman Cramer's bill was immediately referred to the House Resources Committee.

Sometimes Congressional Committees will hold public hearings on certain legislation.

On February 7, 2002, the House Resources Committee's Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands held a hearing about H.R.2628 where Congressman Cramer testified. Nancy Gonce, Executive Director of the W.C. Handy Music Festival, and Shoals native Alvin Rosenbaum, visiting scholar at George Washington University, also testified before the Subcommittee.

On March 20, 2002, the House Committee on Resources unanimously approved the bill, which readied H.R. 2628 for consideration on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives and Senate must VOTE on the legislation:

On April 30, 2002, the bill came before the full House of Representatives.

Cramer spoke on the floor of the House about the importance his legislation and urged Members to vote for H.R. 2628.

The House of Representatives unanimously approved the legislation by voice vote.

On October 8, 2002, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources considered the bill, and on November 20, 2002, the United States Senate passed H.R. 2628 by unanimous vote.

The bill must receive the PRESIDENT'S SIGNATURE to become law:

In order to become Public Law, the President of the United States must sign legislation within 10 legislative days after it is passed by both Chambers of Congress.

On December 17, 2002,President Bush signed the bill making the "Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area Study Act of 2002" public law (Pub. L. 107-348).

The new law has RESULTS for the impacted community:

This bill "authorized" the study and once funding is "appropriated," the National Park Service's study of the area will begin.

Once designated, the Shoals will be eligible to receive funding for marketing, coordination, historic preservation, landscaping, environmental education, outdoor recreation, and small business development.

Through the National Heritage Area designation, cultural programming, recreating, tourism, and related activities across the Shoals region will have the benefit of locally-controlled and organized coordination with funding support from the U.S. Government.