*** HISTORY ROCK *** (1974)

I'm Just A Bill

Key to symbols within the lyrics

>> <Woof! You sure gotta climb a lotta steps to get to this Capitol

>> Building here in Washington! But I wonder who that sad little

>> scrap of paper is?>

I'm just a bill,

Yes, I'm only a bill,

And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill.

Well, it's a long, long journey

To the capital city,

It's a long, long wait

While I'm sitting in committee,

But I know I'll be a law someday...

At least I hope and pray that I will,

But today I'm still just a bill.

>> <Gee, bill, you certainly have a lot of patience and courage!>

<Well I got *this* far. When I started, I wasn't even a *bill* - I

was just an idea. Some folks back home decided they wanted a law

passed, so they called their local congressman and he "You're right,

there ought to be a law." Then he sat down and wrote me out and

introduced me to Congress, and I became a bill. And I'll remain a

bill until they decide to make me a law.>

I'm just a bill,

Yes I'm only a bill,

And I got as far as Capitol Hill.

Well now I'm stuck in committee

And I sit here and wait

While a few key congressmen

Discuss and debate

Whether they should

Let me be a law...

Oh how I hope and pray that they will,

But today I am still just a bill.

>> <Listen to those congressmen arguing! Is all that discussion and

>> debate about you?>

<Yes. I'm one of the lucky ones. Most bills never even get this far.

I hope they decide to report on me favourably, otherwise I may die.>

>> <"Die?">

<Yeah: die in committee. Oooh! But it looks like I'm gonna live.

Now I go to the House of Representatives and they vote on me.>

>> <If they vote "yes", what happens?>

<Then I go to the Senate and the whole thing starts all over again.>

>> <Oh no!>

<Oh yes!>

I'm just a bill,

Yes I'm only a bill,

And if they vote for me on Capitol Hill,

Well then I'm off to the White House

Where I'll wait in a line

With a lot of other bills

For the President to sign.

And if he signs me then I'll be a law...

Oh, how I hope and pray that he will,

But today I am still just a bill.

>> <You mean even if the whole Congress says you should be a law, the

>> President can still say no?>

<Yes, that's called a "veto". If the President vetoes me, I have to

go back to Congress, and they vote on me again, and by that time

it's...>

>> <By that time, it's very unlikely that you'll *become* a law! It's

>> not easy to become a law, is it?>

No! But how I hope and I pray that I will,

But today I am still just a bill!

>> <He signed you, bill! Now you're a law!>

<Oh yes!>

Great thanks to:

David Strauss / dss2k@virginia.edu (PsiCop P12+ & B5 Waiter, Fresh Air)
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