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<br />00256R <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The Senate Interior and Insular Committee <br /> <br />, <br />reV2ewS <br /> <br />the House <br /> <br />hearings and usually holds public hearings of its own. If this <br />Senate Committee votes favorably the Act goes directly to the <br />Senate Calendar and if approved in the exact form in which it <br />passed the House, it goes to the President. (It changes from <br />a Bill to an Act whenever it is enacted by one House of Con- <br />gress). If the President vetoes the Act it must pass each House <br />of Congress again by a 2/3-vote when it becomes a public law. <br />If the President signs it instead of vetoing, it becomes a pub- <br />lic law at once. <br /> <br />The authorization of a project by a public law does not make <br />any funds available for construction. That status requires the <br />enactment of an Appropriation Bill which must go through the <br />routine described for the enactment of the Authorization Act, <br />including public hearings in both Houses. But an appropriation <br />for a project is not legal until the project has been authorized <br />by public law, so the enactment of an Authorization Bill, plus <br />the enactment of an Appropriation Bill, is necessary in every <br /> <br />instance. <br /> <br />Should a Senator introduce a Bill to authorize a specific <br />project, as outlined in detail above, the Senate takes the origin- <br />al action and the House the final action. However, all appropria- <br />tion bills are acted upon first by the House. Authorization bills <br />can be acted upon originally by either the Senate or the House. <br />As a further protection to the people's money, the Congress <br />has created the office of the Comptroller General and has <br /> <br />5 <br />