Describe the process by which a bill becomes a law.What are the major steps in the process? How often do bills fail,and where in the process do they typically die? What are the main differences in the legislative process between the two houses of Congress?

There are three components to this question.
a.Process of a bill becoming a law: The first step is drafting legislation.Once drafted,the bill is officially submitted by a senator or representative to the clerk of the House or Senate and referred to the appropriate committee for deliberation.During the course of its deliberations,the committee typically refers the bill to one of its subcommittees,which may hold hearings,listen to expert testimony,and amend the proposed legislation before referring it to the full committee for consideration.The full committee may then accept the recommendation of the subcommittee or hold its own hearings and prepare its own amendments.The next steps in the process are the committee markup sessions,in which committees rewrite bills to reflect changes discussed during the hearings.Debate on the floor of the House and Senate follow this step.Once a bill is debated on the floor,the leaders schedule it for a vote.A conference committee composed of the senior members of the committees or subcommittees that initiated the bill may then be required to iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.Before it can be sent to the president for signing,the House-Senate conference committee's version of the bill must be approved on the floor of each chamber.The final step in passing a law is presidential approval.
b.Failure of bills: The vast majority of bills fail because they are simply allowed to "die in committee" without serious consideration given to them.In a typical congressional session,80 to 90 percent of the roughly 10,000 bills that are introduced die in committee.
c.Differences between House and Senate: In the House,the relative handful of bills that are presented out of committee must pass one last hurdle within the committee system: the Rules Committee,which determines the rules that will govern action on the bill on the House floor.In the Senate,the leadership has much less control over floor debate and senators can filibuster.The filibuster is not the only technique used to block Senate debate.Under Senate rules,members have virtually unlimited ability to propose amendments to a pending bill.Each amendment must be voted on before the bill can come to a final vote.