From: [email protected] (Daniel Jenkins)
Subject: «I’m Just A Bill» — School House Rock
Date: 19 Nov 1996 11:23:37 -0500
«I’m Just A Bill»
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School House Rock
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(Kid) «Whew! You sure gotta’ climb a lotta’ steps to get to this Capitol
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building here in Washinton! Well, I wonder who that sad little scrap
of paper is?»
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I’m just a bill, yes I’m only a bill, and I’m sittin’ here on Capitol Hill
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Well it’s a long, long journey to the capitol city. It’s a long, long wait
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while I’m sittin’ in committee — but I know I’ll be a law someday, at least
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I hope and pray that I will, but today I am still just a bill.
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(Kid) «Gee, Bill, you certainly have a lot of patience and courage.»
(Bill) «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,
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so they called their local congressman and he said, ‘You’re right,
there ought to be a law.’ Then he sat down, wrote me out, and
introduced me to Congress, and I became a bill — and I’ll remain a
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bill until they decide to make me a law.»
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I’m just a bill, yes I’m only a bill, and I got as far as Capitol Hill.
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Well now, I’m stuck in committee, and I’ll sit here and wait, while a
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few key congressmen discuss and debate whether they should let me be a law.
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How I hope and pray that they will, but today I am still just a bill.
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(Kid) «Listen to those congressmen arguing! Is all that discussion and debate
about you?»
(Bill) «Yeah, I one of the lucky ones. Most bills never get this far. I
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hope they decide to report favorably, otherwise I may die.»
(Kid) «Die?»
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(Bill) «Yeah, die in committee. Ooh, but it looks like I’m gonna’ live.
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Now I go to the House of Represenatives and they vote on me.»
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(Kid) «If they vote ‘Yes,’ what happens?»
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(Bill) «Then I go to the Senate and the whole thing starts all over again.»
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(Kid) «Oh, no.»
(Bill) «Oh, yes!»
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I’m just a bill, yes I’m only a bill, and if they vote for me on Capitol Hill,
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well, then I’m off to the White House, where I’ll wait in a line with a lot
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of other bills for the President to sign, and if he signs me then I’ll be a law
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How I hope and pray that he will, but today I am still just a bill.
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(Kid) «You mean, even if the whole Congress says you should be a law,
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the President can still say no?»
(Bill) «Yes. That’s called a ‘veto.’ If the President vetoes me, I’ll
have to go back to Congress and they vote on me again, and by that
time you’re so old, you…
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(Kid) «By that time it’s very unlikely that you’ll become a law. It’s not
easy to become a law, is it?»
(Bill) «No…»
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But how I hope and pray that I will, but today I am still just a bill.
(Congressman) «He signed you, Bill. Now you’re a law.»
(Bill) «Oh yes!»
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. Dan Jenkins, Jr. ([email protected])
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