When it comes out of the hopper in nine months hence, for it will take that time, we then hope it will be a perfected product.” “Let us have an end of tumbling every legislative grist into the appropriation hopper,” Representative John Hanna of Indiana said in 1879, “to be ground out by the use of burrs and ill-adapted and ill-adjusted to the purposes of general legislation.” On legislation regarding the Isthmian Canal Commission (later responsible for control of the Panama Canal Zone), Representative Francis Newlands of Nevada remarked in 1900, “A certain amount of brute force is required in order to put this bill into the legislative hopper. Grain/legislation metaphors are sprinkled throughout the Congressional Record. The co-opting of the term hopper fit neatly within the context of an agrarian society, and 19th- and 20th-century American lawmakers, a significant percentage of whom had agricultural backgrounds, likely could have appreciated the analogy between grain and bills. The hopper represents the initial phase of a bill’s journey toward refinement, or final passage, much like grain when processed into flour. From there, the connection between the grain machine and making laws is understandable. A century later it evolved to refer to the entry bin of a grain machine, since the grain would “hop” around as it was poured into the bin. The term hopper, used to describe the act of leaping, dates to the 14th century. The story of how the hopper got its name speaks to the nation’s agrarian roots and the legislative process.
From there, the bills are referred to committee by the Speaker with the aid of the Parliamentarian. At the end of every legislative day the Clerk of the House collects the bills and assigns each one a number. All new legislation has its start here, a container located on the rostrum in the House Chamber. House of RepresentativesĪbout this object A linguistic link to the idea of an agrarian society, the hopper is one of the first stops for new legislation.Ī basket, a hopper, a bin. tiles/non-collection/8/8-4-hopper.xml Collection of the U.S.