Shirey Seigworth

Professor Baumann
PL SC 001
March 3, 2014
Proposal for Corn Modification Experiments at PSU
In order for Congress to pass a bill funding new experiments in modified corn product at
Penn State, there are many steps that must take place first. Understanding the process a bill goes
through is key to successfully getting a bill passed. It is important to understand the differences
in the rules in the house and senate and the effect this may have on the proposal. It is vital to
know where and who to lobby for support.
For a bill to become a law, it must first be drafted. Someone or a group of people in the
agricultural department that want the funding and are knowledgeable on the topic and the
monetary needs must first draft a proposal to present to a congressman or congresswoman. They
then need to approach a congressman or congresswoman that is likely to support their proposal
and ask that they introduce the bill into their house of congress. Hopefully, the congressman or
congresswoman will agree to introduce the bill and do so. Assuming that they have submitted
the bill for review, the next step is for bill to be sent to a committee that covers topics similar to
the proposal such as the agricultural committee, which is a standing committee that exists in both
houses. Then the bill will be sent to a subcommittee for further review. The committees will
pick apart the different aspects of the bill. The subcommittee will report back to the full
committee. At this point, the process for voting on the bill is different for the two houses of
congress. In the House of Representatives, the next step is for the bill to be voted out of the
committee. It would next be sent to the rules committee so that they can set rules for the bill.
They will determine when the bill will be voted on, if amendments are allowed, and how long it
will be debated by both parties. Afterwards, a debate will take place between the Democrat and
Republican parties and the house will vote on the bill after the allotted amount of time is up. In
the Senate, the debate for the bill is scheduled by the President of the Senate after a unanimous
consent agreement has been reached. Every member in the Senate must agree to review and
debate the bill. If everyone agrees on the terms, the bill is then debated by both sides and voted
on. The same version of the bill must be passed in both houses for the bill to become a law or
for a proposal to be passed.
The rules of the House and Senate are different from another and these differences could
impact the proposal in many ways. In the Senate, congressmen and congresswomen have to
unanimously agree to review, debate, and put a bill up for vote. Senators have the right to
filibuster a bill in order to either force their desired changes on it or kill it. The Senate also has
the right to cloture, which stops a filibuster. This means that if one member of the senate does
not like Penn States proposal for funding for corn modification experiments the proposal can die
because it only takes one member of the senate to effectively kill a bill. Penn State needs to
make sure that no senators strongly oppose their proposal enough to kill it. There are sometimes
other factors involved in whether or not a senator will filibuster or threaten to filibuster such as
their own agendas that they want to push forward and have passed. There is give in take in
choosing to kill a bill because they want to have support, which they could lose if they kill
another senators bill that many support. In the House of Representatives, a single individual
does not have the power to kill a bill by themselves. The rules of how a bill is introduced and
debated in the House favor the majority partys wishes. In the House, if the majority party
supports the proposal it has a much better chance of being voted on and passed. The rules of the
House are different in that the bill has to go to an extra required committee that a bill must go to
(the rules committee), which means it has yet another places where it can die. In the House,
there is not unlimited debate like the Senate has and this can sometimes have a negative impact
on a bill because it is not discussed as thoroughly as it may need to be before a vote is held.
State College/Penn State is located in District 5 in Pennsylvania, which is represented in
the House of Representatives by Glenn Thompson. Glenn Thompson is the kind of lawmaker
that would most likely support the proposal. Not only is he a life-long resident of Centre
County, where most people proudly support Penn State and its research, but most importantly he
is graduate of Penn State himself (Biography). He is currently a member of the Houses standing
Agriculture Committee and strongly supports the furthering of agricultural development
(Biography). Congressman Thompson is the most obvious person that Penn State should
approach first for support. The agricultural committee is made of 60% Republicans and they are
more likely to support advancement of agriculture. The agricultural department drafters and
supporters should approach Republican congressmen from states and districts within the states
whose economies are primarily agricultural (such as Pennsylvanias) or have large agricultural
industries and ask them to support the bill because their constituents are likely to support the
proposal. States such as Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota that are the largest producers of
corn are very likely to support experimenting with genetically modified corn because this
research could in turn make them higher profits. Republicans are bigger supporters of big
businesses and Agribusiness is a huge industry. Lobbying Republicans in the House is important
because they hold the majority and bills have a better chance of being passed if the majority
party favors it. The more support that can be gained early on will help the bill survive in
Congress.
People who are less likely to support this proposal/funding would be democrats and other
congressmen/women that are against genetically modified food and are worried about the health
concerns associated. Democrats are typically more concerned with environmental issues such as
genetically modified food and are more concerned with health as well. It makes the most sense
to lobby the Democrats and Republicans that are on the fence with the issue or do not have
strong opinions against it because convincing them and getting their support will be easier than
getting support from congressmen/women that are dead set against genetically modified food.
Penn State should spend time lobbying congressmen/women who have not previously spoken out
against increased agricultural advancement funding and or genetically modified food. Penn State
should lobby new congressmen/women because they may be less likely to have a strong stance
on this issue. Although Democrats are usually more supportive of education and funding of
educational programs, they are not quite as supportive of agriculture as Republicans so lobbying
should be done on democrats without strong opposition, republicans without strong support, and
new congressmen/women.











References
Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2014, from Congressman Glenn 'GT' Thompson website:
http://thompson.house.gov/about-glenn/biography